Thirteen Hours
by AZ1087653
Summary: Is thirteen hours really enough to change your life? What would you choose if you were given a change to learn about a culture that derived from another planet - another time? See what fate has in store.
1. Thesis

You sit there and stare at the computer, trying your best to figure out what to do for your thesis

Hallo, hola, ciao, hello. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read this little dare. Actually the dare was posting it here, since that takes me out of my comfort zone a few miles. A friend of mine wasn't too happy about the lack of character explanation in the live action movie and thus came to me with the request. Then of course the dare.

There were some stipulations to said dare:

Story must be in 2nd person. You are the main character. (Though as I do not know you personally, you will be an amalgam of a bunch of people I know.) – I know the policy Fan Fiction sets, but this is not like the "Find Your Fate" series. I am telling you what you are doing. Sorry, you don't get to choose.

Must be in the present tense.

I am not to refer to the Cybertronians as their Alternate forms – you can thank a friend of mine for that after she ranted to me how annoying it was to see the kids making out on Bumblebee at the end of the live action movie. Not a discussion I would wish on anyone.

Not allowed to refer to any of them as male/female.

As much as possible, they must exhibit the characteristics of their original packaging descriptions. (Although this is true, I delved into the cartoon, comics, books, etc…because I enjoy how some characters are represented.) This was mainly requested due to the lack of character development for the Transformers in the live action movie.

Many of the situations were either requests, or are based on something that has happened to me personally. All of the stipulations were requested too.

The entirety of this story is to be posted at one time, that way I actually finish it.

The usual disclaimers apply: I do not, in any way, own the rights to the characters invented by the company Takara or the company Hasbro. Though I hear Hasbro's stock has increased slightly in the past few months.

I also have no ownership of people who may be real, (such as voice actors), or the movies or books that may be mentioned in the story.

I am rating this story M to be safe as what I personally would consider M might differ from what this site considers M.

I also dedicate this story to Emily, as she introduced me to this website, and when she was still with us, would read me the stories off of this site. (Until I found out some of them should not be read by seven year old children. )

The aforementioned disclaimers are for the entire story. I will not be repeating them.

On To The Story : Enjoy

Thesis

You sit there and stare at the computer, trying your best to figure out what to do for your thesis. Your Professor has given you the assignment of studying another culture up close and personal and writing your dissertation on the differences between theirs and the one you had grown up in. Oh the choices were endless! What an exciting thing to write about, but who to write about?

You decide to do a search of the Internet, find out who you want to study. You hope if you take a trip to some exotic location, you can write it off as a tax deduction as part of schooling for your Doctorate.

Daydreaming, your mind wanders back to your freshman year and how hard it was to decide to major in Sociology. The Anthropology classes you had taken and the biology classes you had loaded up on. How fun that had been, you miss that almost care-free attitude you had those first few semesters. Now, unfortunately, it's time to get down to business.

"You need to concentrate." You scold yourself, putting a question into the "Ask Jeeves" web site, hoping to get some information back that would actually be relevant. Of course you are wrong. There are over 100 sites that pop up on the computer screen before you.

Sighing in frustration, you close the Internet and spit out, "That doesn't help me you stupid piece of hardware!" Then you sigh again, "I know, I know, a computer is only as smart as the person running it."

You roll your eyes and head downstairs to the den where all of your old papers and notes are located. No one ever said you weren't a pack rat. At least you don't collect garbage or animals, like those people you have read about in the news.

Plopping yourself down on the chair next to your shelves, you start pulling out your old papers. One for your biology 1 class, one for your world history class, one for your public speaking class. Then as you reach up to pull another one, something flutters to the ground.

You reach down and pick it up. "I remember this one." You say to yourself, remembering how much fun that particular economics class had been. Then your eyes glance over the writers of the paper. This one was written by you and a friend you occasionally kept in touch with. Carly Witwicky, if memory serves.

Then you have an epiphany. She was friends with that Alien race from that planet! You are not able to recall who they are, but you know they are still on Earth, you occasionally see them in the news. Of course! What better culture to study than one that isn't from your home planet?

Dropping the papers on the floor, you stumble your way back up to the room with your computer and access your e-mail account. Carly's name is still in the address book, so you select it and send off a message, which is almost instantly replied to.

Shortly an instant messenger box pops up with Carly saying Hi to you.

You reply back, almost instantly, "Hi Carly. It's been a long time."

"It has, how are you doing?" She replies.

"I'm fine, you?"

"Great, you should see Daniel now, he's getting so big."

"Can't wait to see him, listen, are you still friends with those Alien beings?"

"You mean the Autobots? Yes."

"How many strings would I need to pull to speak with a few of them for my Doctoral Thesis?"

"None, you'd just have to come on out, they're pretty open to talking with anyone."

You are excited now, and while you are messaging her back, you are also booking a red-eye flight out to Portland.

"I didn't know you were going for your Doctorate, congratulations." She says back to you.

"I am. I just enjoy learning and I've got to learn about a culture and compare them to the culture I grew up in."

"Well, meeting the Autobots will certainly be an eye opener for you. Their ways are so different than ours."

"I just booked a flight that'll get in about 4:50 am tomorrow morning. Would you mind meeting me at the airport and taking me to see them?"

"You already booked a flight?" You can hear her saying this with mild surprise. You were never one to put things off until the last minute.

"Yeah, I know it's early, but that's the only time I can come in tomorrow."

"No problems with the time, although Daniel will be with me."

"Don't worry, I like kids. Haven't had time to have any of my own, but I still like kids."

"If it were anyone else contacting me, I'd say no, but I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

Smiling you reply back. "Thanks Carly. I owe you one."

"I expect you to donate the Nobel Peace Prize money to the Autobot cause, when you win."

You laugh and thank Carly again before signing off. Then you run upstairs to pack a couple days worth of clothes and enough tapes to record your conversations. Nobel Peace Prize aside, this is going to be fun.

It takes only a few hours before you are packed and standing in the airport. You quickly do a quick check for tapes and then board the plane. Before you know it, the plane has taken off and although you are awake, the time flies.

Soon the captain announces your descent. Soon you will be meeting the Autobots. You can hardly wait.

4


	2. Meeting the Autobots

Meeting The Autobots

You step off the plane in Portland and scan the crowd. It takes a moment, but you'd recognize Carly anywhere. She still has that same, perfect, with blond hair. She has a boy with her, he's maybe four. Smiling you walk toward her and she envelops you in a hug.

"It is so good to see you! I can't believe how long it's been." She says. She sees you eyeing her son. "Oh, this is Daniel. Can you say hi Daniel?"

"Hi." The boy says and then hides his face in his mama's leg.

"He's beautiful Carly. Where's Spike?" You ask as the three of you make your way down to the luggage pick-up.

"Oh he's off with Bumblebee. The two of them are inseparable at times. Sometimes I feel like Bee's the first wife, I'm the second." She laughs, but you aren't too sure whether it's in jest or not. You decide to keep your mouth shut; it's none of your business.

It takes almost ten minutes to collect the meager belongings you brought with you and the next thing you know, you're in a car, traveling through downtown Portland. You take in the sights while listening to Daniel explain about his town, nodding occasionally to let the kid know you are actually listening.

"I have to thank you for agreeing to pick me up here at 5 am." You say to your chauffer. "How long until we reach the Ark?"

"Anything for an old friend. I've got to say though, you certainly ran out here as quickly as possible. Just last night was when we e-mailed each other." She says.

"Let's just say if I had more time to think over my decision, I probably would have decided against it." You tell her.

"You'll be glad you decided to come, they're a great group. It'll take about 2 hours to get there."

"Are you gonna see the Autobots?" Daniel asks.

You turn around and look at the expectant eyes of the child. "I am, is that what they call themselves?"

"Yeah. They're big, real big." The boy states, then resumes playing with a rubrics cube.

"Carly, can you tell me about the Autobots. I vaguely remember you telling us about your time spent with them while in class, but I don't remember much." You take out your tape recorder and press record.

Carly looks over at you and smiles. "Well, this is one you're kind of going to have to figure out for yourself, but I can give you a little background so you know who to see about the specifics for your paper."

You nod again and wait for her to continue on.

"Obviously you'll want to speak to either Optimus or maybe Prowl about anything having to do with command decisions as they are the first and second in command."

"Wait a minute." You interrupt her speech. "Their names are Optimus and Prowl?" She looks at you with a twinkle in her eyes and nods. "Okay, so Optimus means what exactly?"

"I'm not sure. Prime is definitely the optimal leader, optimistic, anything else that sounds positive that starts with opt. I have no idea. I guess I never asked." Carly starts to giggle. "Prime coulda been an optometrist too?" You roll your eyes, Carly hasn't changed.

You watch as she turns out of the main city and heads towards the desert. "Prowl? How is it that they have names that are so human, not to mention English? Bumblebee? Prowl, Optimus?"

"I think that's the closest translation to their actual name from Cybertronian. I'm sure the names would sound completely different in their native tongue, if in fact we could even pronounce them."

"What have I gotten myself into?" You say, covering your eyes with your hands. "Next time I want to do a paper, remind me to stick to people native to this planet. I don't know if I can handle this."

Carly laughs, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. They're not going to bite and they're all rather friendly. There's a few you might want to steer clear of, like Gears and Sunstreaker."

"Gears and Sunstreaker huh?" You laugh at the names and shake your head.

"Gears is rather an interesting mech. Rather anti-social, extremely blunt and not very agreeable." You watch her and nod so she'll continue. "Sunstreaker is vain and pompous. Cares for no one, except maybe Sideswipe."

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, what's with the compound words?" In the back of your mind you can hear the shouting of yourself telling you to go home.

"Again, that's what the names translate to from their native tongue into English." Carly makes a turn onto a dirt road and the three of you are driving toward the mountains.

"So the ones that you mentioned, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, are they married or something?" You turn the tape in your recorder over.

"No, more like twins."

"Twins huh, like identical, fraternal, conjoined?"

"That's a question you should ask Ratchet."

"Who's Ratchet?"

"The Chief Medical Officer. The one who puts the mechs back together when they've damaged themselves during the skirmishes with the Decepticons."

Your eyes shoot up, "Decepti-what?"

"You mean to tell me you've not heard of the Decepticons?" Carly turns to look at you and you shake your head. "They're always in the news. Didn't you do a search on them before deciding to do this paper?"

Awkwardly you put your hand through your hair. "Well no, not really. I wanted to get my information from the horse's mouth, so to speak."

Carly looks at you for a moment and contemplates what you said. "That's smart." She decides. "Too many people guess about what the Transformers are all about. Not many actually want to get the real scoop on them."

You look out the window and notice you have left the road at this point. You are completely lost and of course, not able to even think of turning back now.

"Is there a lot of made up stuff about the, Transformers, you called them?" You finally ask.

"Things are kind of embellished about who they are. There are a lot of web sites dedicated to what people think they are. I have yet to see one that is actually supported by any of them."

"Why don't they just create their own site and people can go find out the truth about them?"

"One; they don't have the time to be setting up web sites. They're trying to save this planet, plus their own. Two; Red Alert would say it's too much of a security risk and once that happens Red'll never shut up. Three; people only believe what they want to believe, so even if someone created this web site, there's no guarantee anyone would believe it's any more real than the ones that are already out there."

You take a moment to contemplate what Carly has just said. True, people will always look at these beings as Gods, or whatever, but some people out there had to want to know the truth.

"Maybe I'll make the site for them." You say out loud to no one in particular.

"You gotta ask Red first, a'for you tell people about him." Daniel said from the back seat.

You turn to look at the child as his mom eyes him from the rear view mirror.

"He won't like me creating this page, even if it answers the questions people might have?" You look at Carly for a moment.

"Well first off, I should tell you, Red Alert isn't a he." Carly said, "My son is too young to understand."

"So Red Alert is a she?"

"No, Red is neither. Red is also not both. No transformer has a gender as we do. People tend to call them "He" because they are apparently more masculine than feminine."

"Really?" Your interest suddenly sky rockets. "Explain." You ask with the curiosity of a child.

"Well, I really shouldn't be the one telling you this either, that would be Ratchet again, but they are just Transformers, neither male or female as we would see them."

"You keep calling them Transformers, why that name?"

Carly looks over at you and smiles. "You are in for quite a treat, but the reason we call them Transformers is because they have the ability to disguise their true shape by converting their mass and form into something that resembles an Earth vehicle. Bumblebee changes into the cutest little yellow Volkswagen Beetle."

"So I could have been driving right next to one of them and not known it?" You are astonished and completely excited. This has put the worry out of your head. This assignment just went from overbearing to overbearing mixed with wonder, excitement and everything else you can think of.

"This group does tend to get around a lot, Jetfire can travel half the world in just about 30 minutes." Carly takes a turn toward a large mountain about 20 miles in the distance.

"Really, he can drive that fast?" You ask, then catch your gender remark, "sorry, Jetfire can drive that fast."

"Yeah. Jetfire is pretty fast. You'll have to speak with Jetfire. Mech's got a lot of knowledge."

You look at Carly and recall how she refers to the Autobots. She doesn't call them she or he, she uses their name in place or occasionally uses Mech. You decide to ask about that. "So, because none of them have a gender, you call them by their name, as a group or as Mech?" You take your tape out and put a new one in.

"Pretty much so." She smiles at you and continues, "Keep in mind, it took years before the Witwicky's and I were able to refer to them, not as he, but as Mech. They're not going to jump down your throat because of calling them he. They're used to it."

Confusion sweeps over your face as you try to engrain the word Mech into your vocabulary. Carly notices your contortion and laughs. "I promise they won't be bothered with the reference." Then she pauses, "Well, some might. Sunstreaker doesn't like it here and may act a little hostile toward you. I would also stay away from the majority of mini-bots, except Bumblebee."

"Mini-bots?"

Carly throws back her head and laughs toward the sky. "This is really fun. You had so much knowledge about Earthen culture when we were in school together. We have a clean canvas here and you get to paint the picture."

You look at her and sigh inwardly, the anticipation almost showing on your face as you get ready to take a step into the unknown. You watch as the mountain gets closer and see an opening in the side. From your distance it's hard to tell what the opening is made of.

You squint your eyes and see something moving toward you. As you move closer, your eyes get wide. The first Transformer you have seen is walking toward you, waiving an arm in greeting.

Carly glances in your direction and stifles a giggle at your ogling. You are too fascinated to be embarrassed at your lack of manners. Carly stops the car and jumps out.

The Mech speaks. "Carly Witwicky, what a pleasure to see you here girl." An arm is lowered into a shaking fashion. Carly grips one large finger and shakes the hand.

Daniel bounds out of the back seat and runs to the being and wraps his arms around a leg. "Jazz!" He shrieks in delight.

The being, Jazz, reaches down and lifts the boy eye to eye. "Daniel, m' boy, you've gotten big. Who's that?" Jazz asks the child and points toward you.

Up to this point, you have been making a jackass of yourself, sitting in the car and just staring. The only muscle in your body that seems to be working right now is your heart, because you haven't moved since the car stopped.

Breaking out of your little world, you stutter. "O-oh, hi." Then you jump out of the car, not wanting to give Jazz the wrong impression about you. "I am so sorry about that. I'm not usually such an ass."

"T'ain't nothin' to worry 'bout." Jazz lowers down to one knee so as not to intimidate you. You are pleasantly surprised to find a hand extended in greeting to you. Smiling you take it.

"I'm here to learn about you and your culture."

"Glad ta h've ya. Whatcha wanna know?" Jazz asks.

Carly takes her son from Jazz's hand and looks at the two of you. "Jazz was rather fond of music before the war started. In fact Jazz is still fond of music. Music is the place to start."

You nod at Carly and then smile at Jazz, who in return smiles back. "Sounds good ta me." Comes a chirp like reply.


	3. Music

Music

The large mechanical being before you decides to sit down and make itself comfortable. Jazz leans back against the face of the mountain and looks expectantly at you. Nervously you make your way over to where Jazz is seated and you notice a grin on the visor covered face.

"Um." You say intelligently. Jazz chuckles, but doesn't say a thing. "I guess I'm here to learn about your culture for my Doctoral Thesis in sociology."

"You don' say. Sounds like good times t' me." Jazz continues looking at you with an impish grin.

"Well, Carly said you liked music before you joined the war effort?" You ask, turning on your tape recorder again to get the information.

"Affirmative." Comes the short reply. You gape at the answer until Jazz cackles at your response. "Relax. I ain't gonna bite ya. I can tell you've not met any of us before. I mean meeting Autobots is always a good thing, but sounds like you've not run in'ta Decepticons either."

You lower your eyes in embarrassment at your lack of knowledge. "No, not really. I mean I've heard about you, but kinda too self absorbed to learn about Aliens." Quickly you look back up to see if Jazz was in any way offended. "Sorry, I didn't mean Aliens…"

Jazz claps you lightly on the shoulder with a massive hand. "Don' worry 'bout it. Ya ain't gonna offend me and you're right. To you, I am an alien. Not born, as it were of this planet."

"But you've got music on your planet…I mean Carly said you did…right?" Feeling flustered at your attempt in speaking, you lean back against the rocks.

"Listen here. I promise there's not'in ta worry 'bout. I know enough 'bout you Earthlings ta know how uncomfortable ya get talkin and askin questions that you don't know th' answer to. I give ya permission to speak freely."

You look up at the face before you and have a hard time reading it, but the words immediately put you at ease. Different as they were, they were certainly more tolerant than some people you had interviewed in the past. At least this one was tolerant.

You see Jazz also relax and get into a comfortable position. "Why don' ya tell me what music you like."

Slightly taken aback by Jazz asking the questions, you stutter. "Well…I like classical the most, I guess. I mean, I've always liked math and that's what the music is, math."

Within seconds of your answer, you begin to hear Wagner's "Die Walkure", specifically the 3rd Act, "Ride of the Valkyries". A smile slowly spreads across your face and you look up at Jazz, who is grinning from ear to ear,

"You mean like this?" Jazz asks.

"I idolize this song. It's intense, dramatic and fun all at the same time."

"How about this?" Jazz asks and a fraction of a second later Wagner ends and out blasts "Vogliatemi bene" from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly".

"I don't quite think of that as classical. To me, classical doesn't have words to it, but Opera is like classical with words and Puccini was a genious in his own right."

"So you think of classical without words and Opera as classical with words? I get ya."

"But I'm not here to discuss Earth music. I want to know about Cybertronian Music. Can you sing for me?"

"I can, but I'm not sure you'll like it. I haven't found anything that even remotly compares to Cybertronian music." Jazz turns around and faces you.

"Well let me ask you this. Music here on Earth is pretty much just math. You have different notes that you play to a certain rhythm, that is math." You stand up and start to clap and count. "One, two, three, four." Then you repeat with the conductors' waves.

Jazz watches intently and then you can hear Beethoven's 5th in the back ground. You start conducting like you are conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra. You change the tempo from 2/4 to ¾ to 3/8 and back again, all the while conducting to show Jazz the differences in the tempo.

You notice Jazz's head start to bop to the beat, sublty at first, then Jazz starts to mimic your conducting. Smiling you continue, all the while showing emotions from the music by raising your hands in grander gestures and then softening them by making the gestures less noticable.

Realization dawns on the Autobot and immediately Beethoven stops and is replaced by "I want to hold your hand" by the Beatles. Jazz watches as you catch the rhythm and start to conduct this song as well, the tempo obviously speeding up. Then to make it more interesting Jazz again changes to "Blackbird" by the same group.

You realize the game the two of you have started and you smirk at the challenge, your eyes saying, "Bring it" to the amused Autobot.

For the next ten minutes, Jazz switches from classic rock, to reggae, to chants, to tribal music and to rap, while you try to keep up with the jumping back and forth. When Jazz finally decides enough is enough, you fall to the ground, panting, but laughing at the fun you've just had. All thoughts about how different Jazz is from you have flown out the door.

"That was fun." You say as you sit yourself up.

"You sure do know your stuff kid. Where'd you learn all that?" Jazz asks.

"Just stuff I've picked up over the years. You'd be surprised what you can learn if you just pay attention."

"Well Cybertronian does have one thing similar to your Earth music, math." You listen intently as Jazz begins to explain.

"See, we also have a concept of numbers too." You draw the different types of notes in the dirt for Jazz so he can make a comparison. Jazz contemplates the pictures for a moment and then makes a few changes to the notes you've drawn on the ground.

You stare in complete amazement as you realize what you are seeing. In terms you understand, you see that there are seven beats per measure or eleven beats per measure. Their version of a whole note would be held for quite a long time. You look up expectantly.

"These two types of tempo, as it were, would be our version of classical music." Jazz draws a couple of measures into the dirt to show you.

"So, you can't have a half note or a 16th note or anything like that?"

"We can have half notes, they just last for 3.5 beats or 5.5 beats." He draws what a half note in Cybertronian music might look.

"That sounds so complicated."

"But you have 1.5 notes, don't you?" Jazz asks. You could swear the mech just raised its eyes, but they're hidden.

"Yeah, I guess we do. This would be a time when a friend of mine would tell me to try not to out think it. Could you play me a song that uses one of these?" You ask, pointing to the beats.

"Sure, but brace yourself. You've probably not heard this before." The next thing you know, a cyclone of sound has ambushed your senses. Your eyes grow to the size of half dollars as you try to find anything in your mind that compares to what you are hearing.

Jazz reaches out a hand to keep you steady as you look for a moment faint. The sensations are incredible. You can hear the music coming from Jazz, you can feel the music as it reverberates off of the hand that is holding you up. You can actually see it as it causes a shift in the dirt you are standing on.

The closest thing you can come to for an Earth comparison is the crashing of a waterfall with the sound of a humingbird beating it's tiny wings. To some it might seem like so much white noise, but to you it's a stampede of sensations.

Jazz waits about another minute before turning the music off. It takes you a minute to realize all that you were sensing has just disappeared and you look up at the mech, saddness in your eyes.

"That was incredible. You played that?"

"I did, a'though there's no term to translate what insturments were used to create that instrumentation."

"You were right, I have no basis for comparison, except sounds I've heard naturally in nature."

Jazz looks vaguely interested at this remark. "Which sounds?"

"Well, it was almost like the sound you hear of a crashing waterfall and on top of that, almost not even there, the sound of a humingbird beating it's wings."

Jazz takes a moment to go through the memory components that make up the CPU and the memories in the spark that holds life. "I can see that. You've got ta speak ta Hound if ya get the chance. Hound'll love speaking with someone who knows the sounds of nature."

"Nature is in itself music too." You gaze wonderingly at the sky.

"Somethin tells me, we should have more o' ya here at the Ark. You'd be good for us." Jazz laughs, bringing you back from your short daydream.

"Can you sing too? I mean, use vocals?" You ask, trying to get back on topic as you change over your tape again.

"I sure can, but be warned…"

"I know." You cut the Autobot off. "There's not really a basis for comparison."

Jazz nods, then opens up and starts to sing. The sound that is produced is almost like the hum of a generator, you notice very subtle differences in the intensity of the tone, along with the length of the tone.

You slowly shut your eyes and concentrate on the music that Jazz is sharing with you. It has a calming effect on you and soon you feel weightless. Then you are jolted out of comfort and flung into a pit. You open your eyes to see Jazz still singing, but this time, it's almost angry sounding.

You stand up quickly, not quite sure what's going on, a worried expression in your eyes. Jazz sees the reaction and stops the music and looks at you with curiosity. Then belts out a laugh that shakes the mountain.

"Didn't expect that now, didja?" Jazz asks.

"What happened. It was quiet and calming, then it felt like I was being thrown into the bowels of Hell."

"I did the same thing we played b'for." Jazz said. "I did a piece similar to what you would call Opera, then I jumped into something that is similar to Hard Rock on this planet."

It takes a moment for your heart beat to slow down, so you start pacing back and forth. Finally you look at Jazz, "What is the time for this Hard Rock?"

"Glad ya asked." Jazz gets down on knee components again and starts to draw the differences in beat for classical compared to hard rock. "Now, see these measures are in 2/1 time and 6/5 time."

"Really, why is the larger number on top."

"Ya have to take into account this's music the likes of which your kind ain't never seen." Jazz waits a beat before continuing. The measure has of course one whole, for the whole measure, but for the 2/1, that one whole note is actually two beats. For the 6/5, each of the five notes has an additional 2/10 note added onto it to create that extra kick, as it were."

Your head is realing by this point. Their idea of music is so different from yours, you wonder if you can write it into something your Professor would even understand.

"I'm glad math was an easy subject for me, I would be so lost if I didn't understand basic fractions." You shake your head.

"If this's gettin too much for ya, we can take a break. I don't wanna cause you a cerebral circuit overload or anythin." You can hear the concern in Jazz's voice.

"That might be a good idea." You lean against the mountain with your eyes closed for a moment, trying to comprehend all that you have just learned, then you say, "What's a cerebral circuit overload?"

Jazz laughs for a moment, then replies. "What Spike likes to call a headache. We've got an Autobot who's alternate form is a cassette tape who gets those all the time. Too much information runnin through that CPU I tell ya."

"An Autobot what?"

"Rewind. Cassette tape is the alternate mode the mech and his bretheren chose." Jazz states, matter of factly. "Rewind…"

"Is not here and you need to stop giving this human all this information about us Jazz." You hear a voice behind you and turn around to investigate.

Standing just behind Jazz is another mech, this one colored in vibrant white and red. You look at the differences between this new Autobot and Jazz. Jazz is slightly shorter with black markings, and a red sort of face looking decal. This new one also has the decal, but only the two colors.

"Man Red, you like ta scare a 'bot right outta the exoskeletal structure." Jazz says, turning around and clapping the new mech on the shoulder.

"Jazz, you know we have safety protocols to cover before giving out personal information. That human," Red points at you. "Could be working for the Decepticons."

"Red buddy, you've gotta lighten up. All we done is talk 'bout music. Now how's that gonna give the Decpts the upper hand."

At this point you are starting to lose the comfortable feeling you had going with Jazz. You try to remember if Carly mentioned someone named Red. The only name you can remember is Red Alert.

Before Red can continue you ask, timidly, "Excuse me, are you Red Alert?"

Red spins around and glares at you. "I am." Is the direct reply.

"I don't want to cause any trouble." Your feet start playing in the dirt. "I just came here to ask some questions."

"I'm the one to ask questions to, no one else." Red Alert snaps.

"Easy Red, don' go scarin folks. We didn't mean any harm."

"I want you in my office for an official briefing." Red spits at you, then turns around and walks back into the Ark.

"Uh, maybe I should go." You look up at Jazz, hoping to find a small bit of comfort.

"Oh, don' let ol' Red scare ya. Mech's as paranoid as they come." Jazz says. "Why don' ya come wit' me, I'll walk you to the office. Red is security director after all."

You nod slowly and take a deep breath, causing Jazz to laugh again. The two of you start into the Ark and you can't help but think, this hallway looks like the long hallway those on death row walk down on the way to the execution chamber.


	4. Security

Security

For some reason, you have the "Imperial March" theme song running through your head as you move slowly down the long hallway toward Red Alert's office. Jazz is walking to the side of you, and is nice enough to stop every few feet for you to catch up. You suppress a shudder at the thought of spending any time with someone who looked like you had three heads and were purple colored.

"Don' worry 'bout a thing. I promise, ol' Red's bark is worse than the mech's bite." Jazz says in a soothing voice, obviously picking up on your discomfort.

Deep within your subconscious you are telling yourself that your impulsive decisions should have stopped after you graduated from college the first time. Flying across country to meet with a group of giant alien mechanical beings is going beyond even your rashest decision.

Seeing that you aren't about to speak, Jazz continues. "I'm sure Prowl is probably in the room with Red, so just to warn you, Prowl is amazingly blunt and logistic. Can't say anything to the mech without the gears turning. You'll probably get an earful from both of them about the safety of the Ark and all its inhabitants."

You look up toward Jazz and pretend to smile. "I don' believe that smile for a second." Jazz says. "And I hate ta do this to ya, but I gotta start my shift, so I'm gonna leave ya at the door."

You feel the energy in your legs almost give way as you realize you're going to have to walk into that room all by yourself. Glancing around, everything looks exactly the same. The hall seems to extend onward and never ends. There are cross sections all over. Where the hell did we come from!

"Don' look so worried. You'll be fine." Jazz smiles and walks off, leaving you in front of a door. You watch the being walk away from you, feeling your heart fluttering in your chest.

"His voice sounds vaguely like that one guy off of the movie 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'" You say to yourself. Then you continue, trying to build up enough courage to just burst into the room and scare the living daylights out of whoever's on the other side.

After about three minutes of psyching yourself out you reach out and knock on the door. It opens with a whoosh and you walk in with your head held high. Screw being scared. You haven't done anything wrong and if they think you have, then tough shit.

"You wanted to see me." You say to the two in the room. You recognize Red Alert, the other one must be Prowl.

"Red Alert said you were here learning about our culture, lives, etc. Is this assumption correct?" Prowl asks.

"Yes, that assumption is correct." You say without breaking eye contact.

"Carly Witwicky came in and told me of your arrival while you were out with Jazz, learning about music, am I right?" The voice is rather monotonous, but isn't cold or thick with paranoia, so you relax some.

"Yes, Jazz was explaining some types of music from your planet."

"As you do not seem a threat, I will let this continue, but first Red Alert will go over security protocols with you." Prowl nods and walks out the door, leaving you with Red Alert, who is pacing the back of the room.

Within moments, Red Alert is standing over you, arms across that massive chest. You hold your own, not moving backward, but craning your neck to look up at the security director.

"What do you know of the Decepticons?" Red snarls.

"Well not much, really." You start.

Red interrupts your next train of thought. "How do I know you're not going to run off to them and show them this so called paper you intend to write about us?"

"I'm not going to run off to anyone. I just wanted to learn about you. I don't know if the information I learn here will even be able to be written in a way people can understand." You say, indignation dripping from every word.

"Your tone leaves much to be desired."

"Your attitude leaves much to be desired." You counter.

This seems to make Red Alert stop for a moment and ponder you. You can feel sweat dripping down your back, but you keep still, sizing the Autobot up.

"Tell me why I should trust you enough to give you free rein of my Ark?" Red Alert turns around and stomps back to the desk. You move forward a few feet and stop, your eyes barely able to see over the desk.

"There is nothing I can say that will make you trust me. I can tell you the truth and the truth is, I am curious. I have heard rumors about you and your people. I just wanted the facts, not the things that people dream up."

"You humans and your dreams." Red Alert snorts, sitting down in a chair.

"Maybe you've lost the ability to dream, but don't take that away from those of us who still can." You challenge.

"You want to know my dream? Trust." Red Alert glares at you from across the desk. "I want to be able to trust again."

"There's nothing stopping you from trusting except yourself."

"Watch your tone, when you've been in war as long as I have and seen what I've seen, you lose trust rather quickly."

"I'm sorry." You mean what you say, Red Alert catches that.

"I am the security director. I have to make sure you are not a security risk before allowing you to speak with the rest of the crew." Red Alert starts up again.

"Fire away, I have nothing to hide."

"Cheeky Earthling." You hear Red Alert mumble before bringing out a device that resembles a lap top computer. "Tell me why you're here." Red snaps at you.

"To learn."

"About what?"

"Whatever you are willing to teach me."

"You didn't come with questions already thought out. That's a serious waste of time."

"No, the questions will come to me when I'm having conversations with your people." You realize you need to swap tapes, and proceed to do so.

"What are you doing?" Red Alert eyes your tape recorder.

"I am recording our conversations. That way if I decided to write my paper, then I have all of my information on tape."

Red Alert stands up, the chair falling backward and crashing to the floor. "That is a serious breech of protocol. I'm sending you to the brig for further investigation!" Red Alert screeches.

You back up, tripping over your own feet and falling to the floor. "What, why?" You try to pull yourself away from the desk.

"You can't go around recording what you see here. That is against every code in the book!"

"I'm sorry." You stammer, trying to get to the door. You reach the door, only to feel it open and your hand brush against a metal foot. You turn and look, seeing an angel. Jazz is in the doorway.

"Easy now Red. No harm, no foul." Jazz says, scooping you off the floor. You are now over ten feet off the floor and ready to pass out.

"That human is carrying around evidence of what goes on in our base Jazz. That is in direct violation of Protocol 7, paragraph 2, subsection 3, bullet point 6- No devices that can bring incriminating evidence to the enemy shall be allowed on the Ark." Red Alert states, staring daggers into your eyes.

"I did a check up on th' interviewer here and everything is in order." Jazz says calmly, holding onto you in a protective manner.

Red Alert eyes Jazz warily. "Those documents could have been falsified."

"I have an idea Red. Why don't ya tell our guest about what ya do?"

You stare at Red Alert for a moment, wondering if you're about to see the room explode. To your disbelief a smile snakes its way across Red Alert's face.

Jazz speaks quietly into your ear. "Not many know how much Red Alert likes ta talk about all things security. Helps calm down the paranoia. You're in for quite a lecture, but when Red gets tired, you'll be free ta seek out other company."

You smile gratefully at Jazz, who lowers you down to the floor. You step up and walk toward the chair, opposite Red's desk and climb on. You flash the security director a dazzling smile, all the while thinking to yourself, "This could actually be interesting."

Red Alert starts pacing again while thinking about where to start. You can almost hear the Red's CPU spinning excitedly that there is now a captive audience. Red eyes you carefully, then comes around the desk, standing in front of you. You look up.

"I was involved in creating the security plans for all Autobot battalions." Red states proudly. You just keep your mouth shut. "Each commander and sub-commander team, must have someone versed in all manner of security protocol with their respective teams. Prime got lucky with me, though you'd never hear anyone admit it." Red continues almost forlornly.

It takes a moment for composure to creep back into Red's face and the lecture starts again. "It is important to remember that each commander must have a direct link to the Prime unit, in this case Optimus." Red looks at you, waiting to see if you respond.

Seeing that Red is almost wanting a question asked, you say, "What's a Prime?"

This brings about a sudden flash of smile that is immediately extinguished. "The Prime is a lot like the President of the United States. The Prime is the leader of the Autobots, one who we look to in times of great trouble and chaos. The Prime must be well versed in all security protocol or the Prime is not worthy."

Red continues pacing, and you quickly ask, "Is Optimus worthy?"

Red's eyes narrow the amount of light emitted into small slits, like when a human narrows their eyes at you. "Such insolence." Is the huffy reply. "Of course Optimus is worthy, or the High Council never would have discussed matters with Vector Sigma and Optimus never would have been made Prime."

Seeing how annoyed Red Alert was with that question, you decide to play into the ego that must be suppressed somewhere. "How did you get to be so knowledgeable Red Alert?"

This question strikes gold and Red's eyes suddenly brighten. "I went through the Iacon Security Academy. Like the training academy does for mechs who are created mainly for military purposes, those of us who were selected to go to the security academy, were trained on how to best serve our commanders and of course the Prime."

"Impressive." You feel rather foolish playing into the memories of someone who would rather not discuss anything with you, but of course you don't care.

"Of course it's impressive. There is one security director to the hundreds of thousands of mindless drones that throw themselves into battle. Look at those slag-headed twins."

Your eyes get wide as you remember Carly mentioning. "So you have one of the most important jobs, keeping everyone safe."

Red Alert suddenly gets a vacant expression and says, "It would be nice if everyone remembered what I do for them." Then that expression changes back to one of paranoia. "You, on the other hand, I still don't trust you. Don't think that just because we've had a nice little chat you've endeared yourself into my spark."

You feel that pull in your heart again, fearing that Red Alert might go off the deep end, but there isn't time to worry about that. Suddenly an explosion, followed by a slight tremor shakes the room. Red Alert grabs you and runs out the door, screeching or speaking in a language that you don't understand.

You find yourself on a roller coaster ride as Red Alert manages to dodge Autobots left and right. You notice how calm they seem to the one who is careening through the hallways. You close your eyes as Red jumps over a support beam that is blocking the way and put your hand to your mouth, hoping that awful food from the airplane doesn't decide to make a sudden appearance.

Finally the worried mech screeches to a halt. You open your eyes and see black smoke billowing out of a doorway. Red Alert continues screeching in the language you deduce is Cybertronian. Then English words make their way back into the vocabulary.

"Wheeljack, you mainframe infesting glitch. Get your sorry aft out here!" Red Alert bellows loudly enough you decide to cover your ears.

Someone walks through the smoke. For a moment you don't quite know what you are looking at as the being is covered in dust and grime, then Wheeljack speaks and you can only stare in wonder.

"Sorry about that Red. Guess I crossed one too many wires." The happy voice speaks. You notice this one doesn't have a mouth per say, Wheeljack seems to communicate using blinking lights on the sides of what appears to be a face. A flash of watching "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" permeates your memory.

"Your fool hardy projects blowing up decrease structural integrity. With the structure so precariously held together that is just inviting the Decepticons to come knocking on our door. How will you explain yourself to the matrix if you cause the demise of the rest of your team?"

"Take it easy Red, I'm sure we'll be okay." Wheeljack eyes you for a moment. You are white as a brand new sheet and your stare is as blank as a brand new refrigerator door. "Uh, you okay there?" Wheeljack asks you.

It takes a moment for you to snap back to the present and you look from the fuming Autobot holding you with a death grip to the one who actually seems concerned for your well being. You try to give a reassuring smile, but fail miserably.

"Don't change the subject. This is about you." Red Alert points at Wheeljack using the hand you are in. You clutch the hand that is holding you for dear life as it's moved back and forth faster than an amusement park ride.

"Whoa, take it easy!" Wheeljack shouts, grabbing you from the hands of death.

"Please make the room stop spinning." You mutter as you try to keep your stomach from turning over. You open your eyes and look into the faces of two very curious Autobots. "Give me a minute." You say, then turn over in Wheeljack's hand and vomit onto the floor.

Both mechs take a step back, Wheeljack holds you over your mess. "Great job Red. There are no human doctors here right now. I doubt Ratch'll be able to fix whatever's wrong."

"It's not my fault humans have such weak systems." Red snarls.

"Both of you need to stop making a scene in the hallway." A calm voice says from behind Red Alert.

You open your eyes and try to focus on the new arrival. You recognize Prowl as the voice moves forward.

"What happened?" Prowl asks.

"This!" Red Alert points to Wheeljack. "Blew the slag out of the laboratory again."

"Sorry Prowl. Not like I meant to." Wheeljack says back, pulling you back from your position.

"I don't believe you'd actually mean to destroy part of the Ark." Prowl looks at you. "You don't look so good, maybe I should take you to see Ratchet."

"Ratchet the CMO?" You slur as you try to collect your bearings.

"Affirmative."

"Can I get a beverage before we go to the medical bay, or whatever your call your hospital?"

"Yes, that can be arranged." Prowl looks back at Red Alert. "I'll take over from here Red. Why don't you go back to your office and keep an eye on Sideswipe. Mech's been skulking around a lot lately."

Red Alerts eyes narrow slightly. "On it." Red spins and walks around the corner.

You look up at Wheeljack, then you look over at Prowl who nods. Wheeljack extends the arm you are clutching, waiting for Prowl to take you.

"Are you an invalid?" Prowl asks you. You shake your head. "Good, then you can walk."

Wheeljack places you on the ground and you steady yourself. Prowl has already started walking, so you wave slightly at Wheeljack and run to catch up.


	5. Command

Command

You notice Prowl walks with a purpose and doesn't seem to slow down, even though you are jogging to keep pace. Soon you start to feel like you are running a marathon and silently wish that Jazz was leading you since the mech at least waited and walked slow. Or even that Wheeljack character, who seemed reluctant to put you down after you had been tossed around like a rag doll.

Of course there is nothing you can do about that, so you silently tell yourself to keep breathing and follow Prowl. After all, you need something to calm down the HCL in your stomach, unless you want to cut this trip short.

After what seems like hours, but in reality is only a few minutes, you and Prowl enter a large room that seems to be a common room of sorts. You see Carly and Daniel in the corner, speaking with a couple of Autobots. There's a large yellow one sitting on something that resembles a couch, watching "Cops" on one of those big screen televisions.

Your gaze follows Prowl, who has stopped by a small refrigerator and beckons you to come and choose. You walk over to the frig and open the door. You aren't at all surprised to see human food inside, but that gets you wondering what the Autobots eat in order to keep up their energy.

It takes you a second to choose some carbonated water and an even longer amount of time to take a sip. It tastes awful going down, but when it hits your stomach it's almost like an instant acid reducer and your stomach stops dancing.

Smiling you look up at Prowl. "I appreciate and needed that, thanks."

"Are you well enough to make it to the med bay?" Comes the monotonous response.

"Sure, I guess so." You shrug and look to Prowl for the next move.

"Then I shall walk you there so Ratchet can take a look at you."

"What's Ratchet gonna do to me?" You ask with suspicion. Sure they may be highly intelligent if they've come up with interstellar space travel, but what qualifications does this Ratchet person have over a human doctor.

"Ratchet isn't going to do anything to you that you won't allow. Ratchet wants to meet you and ask some questions. You are human aren't you?"

"What kind of question to ask me is that? Of course I'm human. How many beings do you know of who look like me?"

"A lot of bipedal organics look similar to you. For all we know, you could also be visiting this planet." There is no emotion in how Prowl answers your question.

"Well I'm not. I was born and raised here on this third planet from the sun." You are slightly offended at this line of questioning, but keep it to yourself.

Prowl starts toward the door and you follow. This time Prowl does a better job of walking slower, so you don't have to jog to keep up.

"You're in command of this facility?" You ask, trying to make small talk.

"Second." Prowl replies bluntly.

"How is it you can handle so many different personalities?" You recall the four Autobots you have into contact with. Jazz was really easy to talk to, almost like your best friend. Red Alert puts you on edge, like having to cross one of those log bridges to cross a river. Wheeljack seems like an easy going type, but the concern was what was foremost in your mind.

Then of course there is Prowl. Prowl seems rather distant on an emotional level, calm and cool headed. Based on the short amount of time spent together, you can tell Prowl sticks to the task at hand before going onto the next and doesn't let things interrupt the logical flow of things. Prowl reminds you of a Vulcan.

"Patience." This word snaps you out of lala land and back into reality.

"How did you become so patient?" You ask, still trying to get Prowl to open up.

"Many human years of practice. It has taken me millennia to keep my cool when dealing with some of the mechs under my command." Prowl still doesn't look at you while talking.

"Are they all your friends?" You ask. This question actually makes Prowl's movements halt for a moment.

"There is no room for friends in war." Prowl answers, deadpan.

A slight smirk find's its way to your face. "I don't believe you."

Prowl stops moving and faces you. "Have you ever been in a war?"

"No."

"Then where is your basis for comparison?" Prowl turns around and continues walking.

"I don't need a basis for comparison. Your reaction betrays your true feelings."

Again Prowl stops and stares at you for a moment before talking. "Try to understand this in that diminutive thing you call a brain." Comes a cool response. "When you have been in a war as long as I have, seen so many of your "friends" die, you quickly realize that friendship has no place on the battle field."

For a moment you are shocked, but remorse quickly follows and you mumble. "Sorry. Have you lost a lot of friends?"

"I have lost more than friends. I have lost companions, friends, those I consider family and of course myself." The calm way Prowl speaks starts to make the hairs of the back of your neck stand on end. How long has Prowl suppressed emotions?

"Does it hurt when you have to send your friends out to defend us?"

"Every time."

For the next few hallways the two of you are silent. The only sounds coming from either of you, are your feet hitting the floor. Finally you can't take it any more.

"Prowl, I'm sorry for opening up old wounds."

The unfeeling voice answers back. "It's not your fault. You're here to learn. That's what being a commander is; knowing when to sacrifice yourself or someone else for the greater good."

An image of Prowl using the Vulcan salute and saying "live long and prosper" to you floods your mind. It almost makes you laugh, but you keep control.

"If you had the chance to choose not to be commander, would you take it?"

For a moment Prowl seems to contemplate such a question, then answers, "I see those in this unit on their down time, getting inebriated off of too much energon. Playing games with each other; laughing. If I could go back and choose a different path, I might. I would have to be presented with such a path. But I have to wonder, are the mechs really happy, or are they just masking their pain too?"

"I don't envy you your position. I don't think I could do it." You say. Prowl doesn't seem to want to talk anymore and you are fine with that. The two of your make your way down one more hallway and end up at the door to what you assume in the med bay.

Without knocking, Prowl walks in, you follow closely behind. When Prowl move away and is no longer blocking your position, you stop dead in your tracks. You see, what you think, is a human corpse. It's positioned on a table, completely in the nude.

"Uh, Prowl, what's going on?" You ask, slightly repulsed.

"What do you mean?" Obviously seeing nude humans doesn't really affect Prowl.

"Why is there a dead person on that table?" You point, your voice in a squeaky whisper.

"I would assume Ratchet is doing some sort of an autopsy on that deceased human." Again there was no emotion.

"Why?" Your face shows your repulsion on the subject.

"To learn." This is said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What's Ratchet going to learn by dissecting him?"

"Ratchet wants to learn how the different human systems work and interconnect with each other." A slightly amused voice echoes from a room in the back.

You turn to face the room and Ratchet is leaning against the door jam, arms crossed and smiling. You stand where you are, not moving, thinking of Dr. Frankenstein as Ratchet saunters into the room.

"I was actually getting kind of bored waiting for you to come, I need your help." Ratchet says to you.

Eyes wide, you ask, "What do you need my help for?"

It takes a moment for Ratchet to get right up in your face. "Because I can't hold the tools needed to dissect this dead human. You're going to do that for me."


	6. Medical Research

Medical Research

Within two seconds you are feeling worse than when Red Alert was tossing you around. You, dissect a dead human? That's not even something you considered doing in college. Why would you want to now?

Ratchet looks at you as you turn white then a slight shade of green and laughs. "Probably didn't expect this now, did ya?" Comes a jovial question. You can tell Ratchet is having a good time at your expense.

Prowl looks from you back to Ratchet. "Is this really necessary?"

Ratchet walks over to Prowl and places an arm over Prowl's shoulder. "Prowl my friend, I am a medic first and foremost. If we are to remain on this blue planet, the least I can do is familiarize myself with the inner working of the organic structure."

"What were you doing before we came here?" Prowl asks.

"Planning a party, for tonight." Ratchet looks at you. "I even extend an invite to our little friend here."

"There are a hundred other things you should be doing instead of planning for a party." Prowl says, seriousness saturating the statement.

"As I said before, I am a medic first and foremost, but there's nothing in the medic rule book that says I have to be serious all the time. Would you rather I throw a wrench at you or something? Last time I did that I thought Sunstreaker would blow a fuse for chipping the precious paint the mech uses for color."

"I would rather have Sunstreaker angry than unable to walk. Remember your last little party. Lazerbeak got wind of it and we were unprepared for the Decepticon attack. It's a good thing Red Alert and I were able to keep them from entering the Ark, or we all would have been sent to the matrix without another thought."

Ratchet stares at Prowl for a moment then responds. "That was over three Earth months ago. Am I ever going to live that down?"

"You are a great medic Ratchet. Don't get me wrong, but your common sense seems to fly right out the proverbial window when you decide it's time for a morale booster."

Ratchet glares at Prowl for a moment. You begin to wish you were back with Red Alert for a moment. Finally after what seems like a year, Ratchet says calmly, "Leave my med bay unless you want to be disassembled so Wheeljack can use you for parts."

Without another word Prowl turns around and leaves. You watch the door close and then look back at Ratchet. The scowl that was previously there, has again been replaced by the friendly eyes that were there when Ratchet was in the doorway to the office.

"Well, you'll need a smock unless you want to get human nutrients all over your clothes. Sparkplug keeps one over there." Ratchet points to a wall and you see the smock. Without a second thought you go over and grab it. Ratchet can see the nervousness radiating from your expressions. "Relax, I'm not going to bite your head off."

"I'm glad, I'm kind of attached to it." This was meant to be a serious response, but Ratchet starts to chuckle.

"Each one of us has a different personality. It's amazing we haven't killed each other over time. I, myself, used to be the life of the party. It's amazing how much war changes a mech. But occasionally I feel my old self trying to burrow itself from the rubble and see daylight. Doesn't happen as often as I would like, but I'm not going to deny myself because command thinks I'm a security risk."

You nod as you put the smock on. Ratchet then picks you up and places you on the table with the dead guy. You cringe slightly at the site, but keep your mouth shut.

"Now, what I want to do is cut open the chest and remove the rib cage. That way I can see how the organs beneath it are positioned." Ratchet says, coming over with a large tray, filled with many small cutting utensils.

"I can see why you'd need a human to help, those knives are rather small." You pick up a knife, whispering to yourself, 'this is all just a science experiment, you're not going to get sentenced to purgatory for helping inquisitive minds'. "What's that?" You ask, pointing to a tool that looks like a drill with a tiny saw attached to it.

"That is a bone saw. We're going to need it when we cut away the ribs and when we cut off the top part of the cranium so we can get a good look at the brain." Ratchet is leaning over the table, waiting for you to make the first cut.

Your stomach starts to gurgle again, but you keep your mouth shut, hoping that you won't embarrass yourself again. With Ratchet urging you on, you make a long slice from the neck to the groin. Then you make a T cut from one shoulder to the next. After the parallel cut from hip to hip, you start to peal the skin back from the body.

Ratchet's eyes are bright blue and show off excitement. You feel like you should have stayed home. There is no blood, but there is some sort of fluid that is oozing over the sides of the corpse. You see said fluid hitting your shoes and decide that you are going to burn this entire outfit when you get home.

"Isn't that amazing?" Ratchet asks, completely entranced. A large finger is set on the rib cage of the dead person. "What a sensation?"

"Can you feel that?" You ask, trying to keep from gaping at the innards of the corpse.

"We have a neuronetworking system, like your nervous system. Ours of course is mechanical where yours in organic, but I can feel similar to you." Ratchet says taking pictures with some sort of video device.

"What is your neuronetworking system made up of?" You ask, remembering that you are here to learn about their culture.

"The closet thing on your planet to describe it would be fiber optics. The electromagnetic pulses go from one end of a certain bundle of fibers to the other. So, just like your nervous system, I touch this dead person, the information is relayed back to my central processing unit, not unlike your brain, and then it's sent back to the relays in my finger."

Without worrying about your clothes, you reach for your tape recorder and change the tape, hoping it hasn't run out yet. Ratchet watches you with a curious expression.

"Recording our conversations so you can use them for your notes?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, but this is rather interesting. I can almost forget there's a dead guy next to me. Can you tell me more about your systems? How about your digestive system. I assume you've got to have energy too, right?"

"Right you are." Ratchet says, watching as you reach over for the bone saw. "Unlike humans, our mouths are purely cosmetic and a choice of whomever created us. I was given a mouth, whereas Wheeljack was not. Shockwave doesn't even have a face like this." Ratchet motions to the features.

You turn on the saw and cringe as you start to saw away at the ribs. "Who is Shockwave?"

"Shockwave is in charge of the Decepticon forces on our home world of Cybertron. Megatron left Shockwave in charge because there was no worry of Shockwave betraying Megatron." Ratchet chuckles for a minute. "Little does the great Decepticon leader know, but Shockwave, the logical and cunning mech he is, doesn't think Megs is capable of handling the 'Cons, so I'm sure there is a mutiny in the works."

You have finished one side of the rib cage, so you start on the other side. "So, back to nutrients, how do you eat?"

"We don't eat, per say," Ratchet says, coming over to get a good look at the progress you are making in removing the protective covering of the internal organs. "We siphon a fluid called energon into our system using a connective cable, like a human fetus uses the umbilical cord. More recently we've come up with hardened energon that we can eat, provided we have a mouth."

"Where is this cable located?" You ask as you start on the last rib.

"The port to connect the cable is located, usually, under one of the arms. Under the arms is rather protected and it's a pain in the aft to try to fix and/or replace said port." Ratchet lifts an arm and points to an opening, about the size of a half dollar.

"So this energon you talk about, is that like human blood?"

"In a way. Our creators did what they could to come up with the most efficient means of keeping these bodies we use alive. Now when the war started, mechs were transferred into different bodies that were more suitable to war. Before, we may have been almost human in build, even had faces that can show expressions like you do, but when you are thrown into demise, the most efficient is the best."

You put down the bone saw and watch for Ratchet to urge you on. After a quick nod, you pull up on the rib cage and it pops off with a disgusting slurp sound. You place the cage onto the table next to you and look inside of the corpse.

"Isn't that amazing?" Ratchet whispers. "Looks like this human had that awful smoking habit so many of you organics are fond of."

You look at the lungs and see that instead of the healthy looking pink, they are kind of brownish colored. "How did he die?" You ask as Ratchet resumes taking pictures.

"Cancer."

"Seeing this would probably get a lot of people to quit really quick." You comment.

Ratchet hands you a knife and says, "Cut out the heart. I want to hold it."

"Okay…" You carefully cut out the heart, your squeamishness returning full force. You suppress a gag as you hand the organ to the outstretched hand.

Ratchet holds the heart and turns it around to get a good look at it. "Amazing how so fragile a thing can be so important in the life process."

"You don't have a heart?" You ask, trying to keep from fainting as the smell of formaldehyde finally overtakes your senses.

"We have a spark, but unlike you humans who need a heart and a brain and this entire body to continue living, we are essentially just the spark."

You turn and face Ratchet, a confused look on your face. "Okay, what?"

"Let me show you." Ratchet puts the human heart down on the table and walks to your side. "This is the Cybertronian spark." Ratchet lifts, what you assume is a wind shield, and points to a door, about the size of your head. Using a finger, Ratchet softly touches the panel and it slides open. Behind the panel, a container of some sort pops out and spreads open.

Your eyes light up with the soft glow emanating from the orb like structure inside of the container. The glow illuminates your face and you can feel the slightest bit of heat coming from the sphere.

"Wow." Is all you can muster. "This is you?"

"This small fragment is a piece of Primus, the first creator. I am the personality that comes from this spark. All Cybertronians are given a fragment of the creator of our world. This is what gives us life. If you want to look at it technically, we are that fragment, meaning we are all a part of Primus."

All religious instances aside, you are now completely intrigued. "So if this little spark lives, but this body I see dies, you can still be alive?" Frantically your mind tries to come up with a way to explain this to your Professor.

"My spark can be transferred into another body if it becomes necessary. I may look different, but I will still be me." Ratchet pushes the spark back into the container and closes the windshield.

"How come you call it a spark, why not call it you?"

"The same way you call that covering on your foot a shoe. It's been called a spark for so long, we don't know when it started. Probably with the first 13."

Putting the first 13 aside for a minute you say,"That's incredible." You are in awe at this information. You quickly check your tape so you can continue this discussion. "So as long as the spark is alive, you can never die. How old are you anyway?"

Ratchet laughs. "In Earthen years I would be well over 10 million."

"Really?" You choke out, both from surprise and the smell that is malignantly spreading throughout the room.

"I am one of the oldest on the Ark. Not the oldest, mind you, but one of them. I'm even older than Prime." Ratchet chuckles and turns back to the corpse. You pick up the knife and start to cut the lungs out.

"Do you need air to breathe, like we do?" You ask, trying to keep the questions as similar to the human body/transformer body comparison.

"We don't require oxygen to breathe, but like the other machines on this planet, we do require some form of air like molecules to keep our systems from overheating." Ratchet plucks the lung from your hand and holds it in the air to get a better look at it.

"So, as long as it's not too hot, you don't have to worry about your body overheating?" You raise an eye brow and look at Ratchet quizzically, who in turn makes a kind of grunting acknowledgement before turning the lung over and looking at the other side. "Does that mean you can go into a place where there is no atmosphere and still survive?" You are now clearly excited.

Ratchet puts the lung on the table and uses a Cybertronian size knife to cut the lung in half. "We can, but due to the extreme temperatures that space or places with no atmosphere usually house, we try to avoid it at all costs."

Ratchet is paying too much attention to the lung to focus on your questions right now, so you continue to gut the corpse and place the loose organs onto the table within easy reach of Ratchet.

The two of you continue in silence for a long period of time. Occasionally you look over at Ratchet, who is making some kind of clicking sound. Reminds you of the clicking sound crickets make.

"Ratchet?" You ask after a good twenty minutes of silence and you have finished cutting out the main organs.

"Hm?" Comes an absent minded reply.

"Who are the first 13?"

Ratchet looks up at you for a moment, "What?" Processes your question and replies, "Oh, they're the first Cybertronians to be created. As legend has it, the first one was created with living skin, kind of similar to the integumentary system. Prima was the designation for the first Cybertronian. Prima, along with the other 12 were killed at some point."

"So you weren't created with the technology to change your structure?"

Ratchet stares at you for a moment. "You sure do ask some intelligent questions. I don't believe anyone else has really asked about our origins before, let alone thought that we might have developed the transformation technology at a later time."

"Well if I'm going to write about it, I might want to get as much information as I can." You say, turning yourself so you are facing Ratchet.

"Can I ask what you plan on doing with this paper? What's it for? We can play quid pro quo."

Your eyes light up as you think about how long it would take and how many questions you would have to answer to get all the answers you want. "I'm writing my Doctoral Thesis on the lifestyle of a different culture. I can't think of a more different culture than one that comes from a different planet."

"Fair enough. The transformation technology came around because the Autobots, that would be us, needed a way to stay one step ahead of the Decepticons. They were created for war, in a sense. They were like the gladiators of your past."

"So you invented the transformation technology to disguise yourselves and stay ahead of the enemy?" You quickly change tapes and look up expectantly at Ratchet.

"Yes."

"How did they get it?"

"That I don't actually know. Some say they had a spy among our ranks, some say it was because they captured one of our own. Some even go so far as to say, since we are all created from the same being, we share the information subconsciously. That's all pretty much speculation."

You think about this for a minute and then nod your understanding. "Did you have any questions for me? I'm no expert on much really."

"Let me think about that one for a moment. For now, let's cut this guys head off!" Ratchet's eyes start to sparkle and you grab the bone saw, excited, but nervous about cutting into the dead guy's brain.

Ratchet picks the corpse up and holds him at arm level for you. You turn on the saw and press down on the frontal part of the head. You can hear the bone being cut through and again you suppress a gag and wonder how on Earth you are keeping it together.

When you finish, you set the saw down and take hold of the upper part of the head. Then Ratchet, slowly, moves the body away from the head and gently places the body back down on the table.

You kneel down in front of the open head and Ratchet moves in next to you. You lock eyes for a moment, then turn your heads back to the head. Ratchet reaches a finger out and touches the brain.

"Do you think you can remove that?" Ratchet asks you.

"I can try." You slowly reach your hand out and slip your fingers between the brain and the inner walls of the skull. You gently pull and it moves, but not enough to pull the brain out.

"Here, use this." Ratchet hands you a tool that looks like a giant ice cream scoop.

"What the hell is this?" You ask, turning the tool over in your hand.

"A spark extractor. At times the body is so badly damaged, this tool can be used to remove the spark without having to destroy the casing." Ratchet watches as you slowly push the extractor into the head. There is a little resistance. "Give it some pressure." Ratchet urges. You push a little harder and the spinal cord gives way to the knife like edges of the tool.

Slowly, you start to pull the brain out. When the brain is free of the head, you finally realize that you've been holding your breath. You breathe out and hand the brain to Ratchet, who holds it up between two fingers.

"This is amazing." Ratchet goes to turn the brain around and ends up squishing it, spewing organ all over you and the corpse. "Well, I didn't mean for that to happen."

You reach up and start to pull pieces of brain out of your hair. "I once heard that the brain can be squished like so much jell-o. I guess I won't get to test that theory."

"I guess not." Ratchet laughs and starts to help pluck pieces of brain off of your smock.

After you remove the unwanted elements from your person, you sit down on the table and lower yourself to the floor. You land and get your bearings and turn toward the medic.

"Ratchet. It really has been an honor, but if I stay in here, I'm not going to be able to keep what little I have in my stomach down."

Ratchet looks at you for a moment, then says, "You look like slag. Maybe you should go out and get some air."

"I'm not sure what slag looks like, but that is a really good idea. How do I get outside from here?" Ratchet picks you up and carries you to a computer. On the computer is a diagram of the Ark. Ratchet shows you the way out, then takes you to the door.

"It's been real, and don't forget my invite. If I have my way, then there will be a little get-together in the mess later tonight. You are more than welcome to join us, and you can come back here and help me dissect any time you want." Ratchet turns off the light to one eye, in a kind of wink. You smile and walk off toward the front of the Ark.

It takes you a good ten minutes to get to the daylight. Once outside, you take a deep breath of the pure air, trying to get the smell of formaldehyde out of your lungs. You look at your watch as you wander around the front of the Ark and realize that it's only been a couple of hours since you started speaking with Jazz, not a few feet from where you stand right now.

Carly's car is still parked out front, so you get into your bag and pull out a granola bar. You decide to take it to the side of the mountain to eat. Before the first bite hits your tongue, you hear movement behind you.

Turning slowly, you see the most massive being yet. You look up to see where this Autobot ends and end up falling backward.

"Easy there. Don't want to end up hurting yourself now, do you?" The most soothing voice you have ever heard speaks.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, but you're even taller than Ratchet."

"I am quite a bit taller than my comrades, yes. That is a good observation." The voice, although calm, almost seem sad.

"Are you okay?" You ask, taking a few steps back to see if you can see a face.

"Just being haunted by old memories. Nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry, do you want to talk about it?" You ask, feeling guilty for even asking.

The mech looks down at you, before kneeling on the ground. "Starscream once told me, a long time ago, that it's almost easier to open up to strangers, rather than those you know."

"Who's Starscream?" You ask, trying to remain neutral to whatever this one tells you.

"There was once a time, I considered Starscream a friend and confidant. Now, even though both of us are alive, we are dead to each other." The mech sits down next to you, but still towers over your head.

"What's your name?" You ask softly.

"I used to think of myself as Jetfire, but now all I see when I look in a mirror is betrayal."


	7. Betrayal

Betrayal

You look at Jetfire for a moment, trying to see how this calm person had the ability to betray anyone. Finally you speak, "How did you betray your friend Jetfire?"

Jetfire does what you assume is the Cybertronian equivalence of shutting one's eyes, then opens them again, looking at you. "Starscream made sure I was brought out of stasis, that I was alive."

"But that's a good thing, isn't it?" You ask.

"Yes, it is, but not when you run off and join your best friend's sworn enemies."

"Wait a minute, back up for a minute." You cough, "what sworn enemies are these?"

"The Autobots." Comes the direct reply.

You look at Jetfire for a moment and then blink back your confusion. Your mind slowly wraps around the information Jetfire is telling you. If the Autobots are the enemy of Jetfire's closest friend, than that means this Starscream character is a Decepticon, right? You decide to ask.

"Is Starscream a Decepticon then?"

Jetfire slouches slightly and you know the answer even before it's spoken. "Starscream is second in command of the Decepticon military."

"How very 'Romeo and Juliet' of the two of you." You say, whistling inside of your head.

"Unfortunately the two of us wouldn't get to die together. Starscream would just as soon cut out my spark than be my close confidant again." You can hear the remorse sliding off of every word and wonder why it's even there when it should be Starscream feeling the remorse for not accepting Jetfire's opinion.

You stand up and walk so you are directly under Jetfire's head. "What happened, why did you betray your friend?"

"When Starscream and his company found me and reactivated me, I was told to watch out for the Autobots, they were evil. I had no reason to doubt Starscream. We were always truthful with each other." Jetfire started.

"So you joined the Decepticons?" You ask. Then as an added thought, "Didn't the name they gave you for their little faction set off any alarms?"

Jetfire laughs for a moment. You can almost see a smile on the robotic face. "You would be surprised at how much and what, you can overlook when you care for someone as I care for Starscream."

"So you still care for Starscream, even though the two of you are no longer friends?"

"I will always care for Starscream. I have and always will love the mech for the rest of my existence." Jetfire stares forlornly away from the mountain.

You know this will not be the most fun conversation you are going to have, but the counselor in you decides it's time to help the Autobots, since they have given you all of this information about themselves.

"Do you mind telling me what happened?" You almost whisper, as if asking is taboo.

Jetfire regards you in a kindly manner for a minute, then decides to continue with the story. "Starscream and Megatron had told me they were working against an evil organization called the Autobots and I believed them. I was sent outside to guard their activities. That was when I met the humans, Sparkplug and Spike."

Curiosity finally overriding your senses, you ask, "Are those their real names, or their nicknames?"

"Those are the designations they gave the Autobots when they first met them. What is a nickname?" Jetfire asks when finished with your question.

You look at Jetfire as you try to figure that question out. Not something you have ever really thought about before. "Well, a nickname is usually given to someone as a term of endearment, like my father calling my mother babe. Of course it can be cruel too."

Jetfire's eyes almost glaze over for a moment. "I now understand something that has been plaguing my CPU for some time."

"What?"

"I once overheard Cliffjumper telling Brawn that I was like a Benedict Arnold. Apparently they have a pool going to see who commits treason first, myself or Sunstreaker." You laugh out loud, causing Jetfire to look at you with curiosity. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh at you getting called that. Yes, Benedict Arnold is synonymous with treason." You look at Jetfire, hoping your little outburst hasn't been offensive.

"Then I fail to see how that is funny."

"You Autobots have some pretty big human flaws if they call you Benedict Arnold. Did they, or you, know that he was considered to be the most accomplished leader for the American cause during the Revolutionary war?"

"I did not." Jetfire stares at you impassively, almost inviting you to continue.

"Human history is full of people remembering someone because of something they consider bad. Yes, he did betray his people and his country, but there is some speculation as to whether the Americans could have won that war without his help."

"So you don't consider my deflecting to the Autobots as betrayal?"

"It may look like it to someone who has no intelligence, but we can't all think about others before ourselves. If you had stayed, just because of your friend, how would you feel right now?"

It takes a few minutes for Jetfire to answer you. You can almost hear the cogs working to come up with an answer.

"I would be betraying who I am, to have stayed with them, so I would probably be miserable."

"Well you seem pretty miserable now."

"I am better off with the Autobots. I may be passive and wish not to fight, but at least the Autobots are for freedom."

For a moment you try to decide how next to proceed. You have thoughts running through your head at an alarming rate, along with your conscious telling you to mind your own business. You don't need to be causing problems for anyone. Finally you decide to have Jetfire start from the beginning.

"What caused you to need to be brought out of stasis?"

It takes a minute for Jetfire to come back to the present and continue. "Starscream and I were doing a geological survey of this planet. I got caught in the gravimetric pull of the axis pole and crash landed in the frozen water. The magnetic disturbances kept Starscream from being able to locate me."

"If," You start, hoping this line of questioning isn't about to open up a can of worms. "If you hadn't ended up stuck in our polar ice caps, what do you think would have happened?"

"I would have tried my best to keep Starscream away from the Decepticons and the two of us out of the war all together." Jetfire states, without missing a beat.

"Then why do you fight at all? Why not go somewhere you can be happy?"

"So, in other words, be a Benedict Arnold to both sides?"

You stand back up and change tapes before deciding to answer Jetfire's question. The mech is watching you intently, waiting for your answer to the question.

"You don't like fighting, you don't want to be in a war. It doesn't seem you are with the Autobots because you agree with them. Sounds to me like you're here because of Starscream."

Jetfire has no answer for you on that comment. The mech sits and contemplates what you just said, while you go back to the car to get a bottle of water and another granola bar. You hop up on the trunk and watch as Jetfire seems to be weighing options.

Finally, after almost ten minutes of a blank stare, Jetfire turns to you. "I honestly don't know what to say about your advice, if that's what you want to call it, but I think you're right. I'm here for Starscream."

You hop down from the car and walk back toward the miserable being. "It seems to me that you love Starscream. I'm not sure how love works for Cybertronians, but you can love someone and not be in love with that person. Your moving on isn't giving up, it's just moving on."

"If I were just to go, right now, betray my friends, what would they say?"

"Who cares what they say. If they're really your friends, then they would rather you be happy than sad. If they love you, then they should be willing to put you ahead of all else."

"But if I love Starscream, isn't that enough to not worry about myself and fight for what we had with each other?"

By this time you are thinking that you should never open up your big mouth again. You've become too emotionally involved and need to just shut up. Of course you continue speaking.

"Honestly, from what you've said, Starscream isn't ready and your remaining here is just punishing yourself. It's time to stop and find something that'll make you happy. If it's to be, Starscream will come around."

"Well you've given me something to think about." Jetfire stands up, causing the ground to shake. Without another word, the giant starts walking away from the Ark.

"I hope Starscream realizes how much you care one day, not many would sacrifice their own happiness for someone else's." You shout as the massive form transforms and you watch as Jetfire shoots up into the sky. "Wow."

"You know, watching Jetfire take off and fly almost makes me jealous." A voice from behind you says.

The voice is so familiar sounding, you almost think you're a little kid watching 'The Pound Puppies' on television again.

"I agree, that was rather elegant." You say, turning around to face the one who is speaking to you. This Autobot is a lot smaller than the other one's you've met. In fact, this one is maybe only 10 feet tall, whereas Ratchet was at least 18 or 19.

"I've been sent to scout you out." A chuckle emanates from deep within the chassis of this newcomer. "I'm Bumblebee."

"Oh, you're Spike's friend?" You say, extending your hand in greeting.

"I see Carly's been talking about me. I hope it was all good."

"Don't worry, she hasn't had a bad thing to say about anyone, even when we were in school together she'd talk nonstop about you."

"I'd blush if I could." A serious tone takes place of the playful one for a moment. "I heard what you said to Jetfire, about his and Starscream's relationship."

Now it's your turn to blush, and of course drop your head. "I'm sure I've overstepped my boundaries with that little conversation." You say to the dirt.

"Well, don't say anything, but I agree with you."

Your head snaps up and you look at Bumblebee with a surprised expression. "Do you really?"

"Jetfire does as good a job as Prowl with masking emotions, and we Cybertronians have just as many emotions as you do. Being a scout, you pick up on things that many people might miss."

At the word scout, you pick up on why Bumblebee was laughing just a moment ago, but the conversation is a little too serious at the moment to mention it. "What is love? Or Friendship. To a Cybertronian I mean?" You ask.

"What is love or friendship to anyone?"


	8. Friendship

Love and Friendship

The question rings through your head as you try to see if there is an actual definition that would be universal. Failing miserably, you look up at Bumblebee and say, "I don't have an answer that would fit everyone else's opinion on the matter, so I guess the answer would be a matter of opinion."

Bumblebee laughs at your answer. "That is a good answer. Love may not exist everywhere and neither might friendship. I can tell you what I personally think, but for someone else, maybe Jetfire, love might be something completely different."

"So can I ask, what do you think love and friendship are?" You ask, walking back to Carly's car to grab your bag.

"I take those two words to spark. Just keep in mind my idea of love and friendship might differ greatly from someone else's."

"What's it like being friends with humans? I mean, how is it different than being friends with a Cybertronian?" You ask, walking back to your rock. You don't make it back, Bumblebee transforming makes you stop and look.

"Can we drive around while I answer your questions?" Bee asks.

"You really are a Volkswagen Bug, aren't you?" You ask, as if Carly had been pulling your leg.

"No, I am not a Volkswagen Bug. I am a Cybertronian, my alternate mode for disguising myself on this planet is this car form." Bumblebee says.

For a moment you think you might have actually offended someone and you immediately start belittling yourself in your mind. This of course keeps you planted firmly on the ground.

Bumblebee starts laughing and the shell of the Bug shakes. "Relax, I'm not offended."

You just continue to stare blankly, confused as to why Bee would react like you had just offended the creator.

"I can promise you, none of us are going to be offended by being called a non-living object. We're used to it." Bee tries to persuade you to get into the front seat.

At this point you have so much running through your head, you need a headache tablet of some sort. Of course! No one wants to be considered not alive. How often do people realize the Autobots and Decepticons were not cars, trucks, planes, whatever? Even with an unlimited amount of patience it must be hard to have people refer to you as a car, treat you like a car, act like you are just a car.

"Does it happen often?" You ask, feeling humbled. "Being treated like a common car?"

Bumblebee transforms back into robot mode and looks down at you. You can see remorse in the eyes, if that is in fact what Cybertronians called them.

"I have learned to deal with people treating me like I'm a nonliving creature. The only ones who I would care about treating me that way have learned to treat me as more than an Earth vehicle. Spike and Carly used to forget that I was even there when they first started doing that human dating thing."

"That must have been hard on you." You say softly.

"It was at first, but then I remembered how young they were. I may not be a scientist like Perceptor and Wheeljack. I may not be as intelligent as Prowl, but I know how hard it is for you humans to accept something that is foreign to you."

"You're not at all like Carly described you. I was expecting some carefree person who had fun all the time. Not this serious conversation we're having."

Bumblebee's eyes sparkle as you say this. "I have a way of making my personality fit the occasion. I know you're here on an important study." It takes only a few moments for Bumblebee to revert back to alternate mode. "If you get in, you can see how easygoing I can be."

You still make no move.

"I'm not gonna eat you." Bumblebee laughs.

"But I'm going to be getting inside of you. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that notion yet."

"If it makes you feel any better, I am actually small enough I can ride inside of some of my friends. Can't tell you how many times Ratchet has had to haul my smoking chassis back to base, or how many of us have ridden in Optimus's trailer."

"You don't have a problem with people inside of you?" You ask in a cautious voice.

"I wouldn't be offering if I wasn't comfortable being chauffer to someone." Bumblebee, again, opens the door to the driver's side. You take a step forward and chastise yourself for acting like an ass. Clearly Bumblebee doesn't have a problem with giving you a ride.

You lightly step inside and strap yourself in. Within seconds the door slams and the two of you take off, leaving a trail of dust in your wake.

"Um, how good a driver are you?" You ask, feeling stupid for even asking the question.

"Haven't killed anyone with my driving yet!" Comes the light response.

After a minute of silence, you have finally gotten comfortable enough to continue your line of questioning.

"So, how do Cybertronians love?" You ask, making sure your tape is still recording. "Do they show affection?"

"We do have ways of showing affection and love to one another." Bumblebee replies. "With us though, it's a little different. From what I've seen, specifically with Carly and Spike, love is extremely physical on this planet. For us, it's more of a mental thing."

"What do you mean by mental?"

"Well when you love someone, what do you do?"

You think for a moment, then realize you don't want to get into what your new definition of love is and what you would do. The silence continues, so you decide to fill in the other party.

"I guess my idea of love has actually mutated since talking with Jetfire. If I were to love someone, I would put their needs above mine. No matter how painful or upsetting it was to me, I would. I don't actually think I've ever been loved before, by anyone." Your voice tapers off as you rethink your ideals.

"I guess we won't talk about your personal ideas." Bumblebee says, turning onto a road that is headed to a heavily wooded area.

"Probably not the best for someone who is needing to change their thoughts because of the new data I'm receiving." You say. "This doesn't mean I don't want to hear your thoughts. What have you observed?"

"Well, when I see Spike and Carly together, they do this thing called making out, or at least they used to. I assume, since they are older, they've taken that into a more private area then my insides."

This causes you to shudder at the picture and Bumblebee laughs at your obvious discomfort.

"Then I did walk in on them having what Sparkplug labeled adult relations once."

This causes you to sit up and cough. "Did you really? You walked in on them having sex?"

"That's what it's called. Apparently its main purpose is reproduction, but we don't reproduce that way. We're similar to your insects, ants, bees. All in all it actually looked rather messy and Sparkplug was rather mad because of them still being so young and not married, or something like that."

"Back up a second, forgetting the mental pictures you are giving me about my friend and her husband. You said like ants and bees? So you have, like a queen who mates with a drone and produces new Cybertronians? I thought you were given part of the spark of Primus or something like that?"

"I see you've been talking to Ratchet. Yes, Primus is like a queen bee. Our main creator if you will. Our bodies are created by someone else, usually to fit their needs, what they want us to be. Then they get permission from the High Council to create a personality from the spark of Primus."

"Okay, I get the whole ant/bee thing. Now about the mental connection as opposed to a physical connection. I mean, we do have a mental connection with the ones we plan to stay together with, like in marriage, or our children."

"With us it's a little deeper. Remember how we are created from part of Primus's spark?"

"Yes."

"Well it's similar to twins on your planet. If you look at it in the light, we are all related because we have sparks from the same being. If we love someone enough, we can merge our sparks, so to speak. I've heard it called a number of things, spark bond, merge, whatever. Well as with twins on this planet, they sometimes have this special way of communicating telepathically. One can feel what the other is doing, even if they are in two different cities. You follow?"

"I think so. Just a second." You change the tape quickly.

"With a Cybertronian it's on a deeper scale. We share our spark with someone. It's eternal and can't be broken because the sparks belong together. They all belong together because they are all part of one being, Primus. Once they are brought together again, they will always seek out the other part. They are no longer two separate sparks, but one whole spark in two bodies."

"Sounds a lot like Christianity. We all came from Adam." You say while watching the two of you make another turn into the woods.

"I've read up on your Earth religions and yes it is similar to Christianity. With bringing the partial sparks back together though, it creates a mental connection. You and the one you bonded to can feel each other, hear each other's thoughts. There is no way to keep a secret from one another."

"Guess you gotta be pretty serious about the other in order to do something like that."

Bumblebee sighs with understanding. "If you love someone so much, you're willing to let them become you, then all that doesn't really matter."

"I'm actually kind of jealous that such an option exists for you. Free agency causes such vows that we make here easy to break." You lean back onto the seat and close your eyes, imagining what it must be like to love someone so much you'd be willing to bare your soul to them in such a manner.

"Have you ever met someone you'd want to do that with?" Bumblebee asks after a few minutes of silence.

"Not even close." You reply sadly. "You?"

"I love all of my friends, but none that I would want to do that with either. Plus, with the war going on, it doesn't really make such actions appropriate. Imagine the one you were bound to getting hurt. If they couldn't block the feelings, then their bonded would also feel it."

"Are all the Autobots your friends?" You ask, looking for a way off of the serious plateau the two of you were dancing on.

"I consider them my friends, as to whether they consider me a friend is a different story." Bee took the bait and the two did a swan dive into a more light hearted conversation.

"I like hanging out with my friends, movies, discussions, even science experiments. What do you do with your friends?"

Bee stops next to a large pine tree and lets you out. You climb the lowest branches till you and Bee are eye to eye.

"During our down time, we do a lot of things. The other day Rewind, Eject, Ramhorn and I were watching an American football game. Yesterday Hound and I were creating new holograms to be used when needed. Just depends on the day really."

"What is your favorite pastime and the one you like to spend it with?" You ask, while looking around to see where you are. It suddenly dawns on you that you have no clue where you are and how you even got there.

Bee sees your sudden fleeting worry and laughs. "I promise to get you back before curfew."

"No, it's not that, it's just, I don't know where we are and in all truth, I don't really know you. Me being out here with a person I don't know is a bit unusual for me."

"Point taken." Bee steps back a little so as not to invade your personal space. "In answer to your question, I like to hang out with Spike. Doesn't happen as often as it did when it was just him and his dad, occasionally his brother Buster, but, he does come and see me once in a while."

"Guess having a family can take away from your friends." You say, recalling the drop in parties when various friends of yours got married and/or had kids. "Who is Buster?"

"Buster is Spike's older brother. I don't see him very often. In fact he was gone for the first few years of knowing Spike. Carly had gone off to college and Buster came home for a few months, then disappeared again. I last saw him right before Daniel was born, that was over four years ago." Bee gazes toward the sky with a wondering look.

"I guess you miss all the time you got to spend with Spike before the kid was born?"

"I do, but Daniel helped him grow up rather quickly. He needed that. The first few years he and Carly were serious, there were times he would still run off to join in a Decepticon fight, or a trip to Cybertron."

This causes you to stop breathing for a moment. Bee looks at you with a worried expression. "Okay, you've got to breathe in order to continue functioning." Bee forces a laugh.

You inhale deeply and close your eyes for a second. "You mean to tell me, you can actually take humans with you to Cybertron? A different planet?"

"Well sure, close friends we've taken. Spike and Carly, not to mention Sparkplug. Daniel hasn't gone yet, but I'm sure in a few years he might join us." There is a mild amount of surprise as Bee realizes you didn't realize it was possible to travel away from Earth.

"Carly never mentioned going to a different planet." You breathe.

"I'm surprised, she enjoyed her little trip there. She couldn't have been more than 16 at the time, almost 17 maybe."

"Does the rest of the world know about your ability to take humans back to your home world?"

Bee thinks for a moment, trying to remember someone saying the world knew. "I'm not sure actually. That might be something you should ask Prime or Prowl about. Jazz might know; mech is good with public relations."

You decide to put traveling to another planet on the back burner for a moment, as the name Prowl, brings up an interesting question. "About friendship. I was told there was no place for it on the battle field or in war."

Bee looks at you with mild amusement. "What glitch told you that, was it Prowl?" You nod. "Don't listen to anything Prowl says about friends. Having friends in a time of war is important, especially for morale. If you don't have your friends there, who is going to watch your back?"

"I can see Prowl's point though." You say, deciding to play devil's advocate. "It's easier to tell someone that they're going to have to sacrifice themselves if you aren't friends with them."

"I don't know war without my friends. I take friendship seriously. Because of my friends, there's less of a chance I will become depressed and unable to function. Plus, I'm fighting for them. What better reason to fight than for friendship?"

"I do see your point, but I still can't get Bubba and Forrest Gump out of my head. Would you be like Forrest and run back into a war zone to save your best friend?"

"In a spark beat." Bumblebee answers without a second thought.

"You're better than most of the people I know then."

You have another question formulating, but don't get a chance to ask it. Bumblebee quickly pulls you from the tree and gets into position in front of you and the general direction of the sound of snapping twigs starts to come from.

"What's going…?" You try to ask.

"Don't say anything and be still for a moment." Bee directs you. It's not said in a rude way, more like a guardian would shove a child in back of them for protection. You don't know whether to be worried or not.

Bee is silent for a moment and you watch from behind. Within a few seconds, another Cybertronian, this one green and a number of feet taller than Bee, emerges from behind the thicket.

Bee sighs in relief. "Primus Hound, you senseless drone. Why don't you warn a mech instead of skulking around the bushes?"

"Sorry there Bee. I didn't realize you were out here." Comes a hearty reply.

"What are you doing out here?" Bee asks, walking toward Hound. You watch the interaction, a slight smile on your face.

"You know me Bee. I love this area. Come out here whenever I can, to take it all in. Who knows how much longer it'll be available." Hound looks over at you and waves. "How are you enjoying your lesson? Ratchet told us of your helping to dissect that human." You can almost see Hound shudder at the thought.

"I am actually having a great time right now. It's been intense at times, but nothing I can't handle." You smile and offer a hand in greeting. Hound extends a hand and the two of you shake.

"Hope Bee's been taking good care of ya. I hear Carly will have no issue with disassembling anyone if their sorry chassis so much as scratches you." Hound rumbles with laughter.

"I can take care of myself. She's being a little overprotective." You smile and look at Bee, who is silent and staring at nothing. "Bumblebee, you okay?" You ask.

"Fine. I just got radioed. I'm needed back at the Ark, do you want to come with me, or do you mind taking over as chauffer for me Hound?" Bee looks at both of you for a moment.

"I don't mind. I might even be able to answer some questions." Hound and Bee look at you for a moment, waiting to see what you want to do.

"I wouldn't mind speaking to Hound, if you've got duty Bumblebee." You answer their question.

"I'll probably see you later then." Bee says, transforming. "You've probably gotten wind of Ratchet trying to throw a party. In fact, it would surprise me if your ears weren't talked off about it, when you helped with that little science project. You're invited of course." Bee turns around and shoots off down the path.

"Ratchet did mention being the life of the party." You say to your new companion.

"Poor mech doesn't get a chance to kick back often, being the only full fledged, academy trained medic on the team." Hound says, coming around to your side and staring out at the foliage covered mountains in the distance.

"So you really like it here?" You ask, climbing your tree again and getting head height with Hound.

"I do. I think it's one of the most beautiful planets I've ever been on. I envy you your home." Hound says, still staring out at the landscape.


	9. Desire

Desire

"Why do you like it so much?" You ask.

"Cybertron is nothing like this planet. Cybertron is pretty much made of the same material as we are." Hound says, looking at you, then back out at the mountains. "This," Hound points toward the scenery. "This is beautiful. I can't imagine being sent back to Cybertron when I know such a place exists."

Curiosity finally wins you over, so you decide to ask Hound why Earth is so fascinating. "You don't have organic life on Cybertron I take it."

"Nothing like this. We have a sort of organic metal structure that is used, but rarely. I look out and see everything on this planet as life." Hound looks back at you sadly. "My greatest desire is to become human and remain here, after the war, that is." Hound chuckles and returns to looking out at the mountains.

"Everybody deserves to have wishes and desires. It's what makes us mortal. I wish you luck in that." You say, observing Hound observing the wind blowing the branches of the tree you are on.

"All I need to do is wait for the war to be over. As soon as it's over, then I can use the water from the Well of Transformation and become human."

You fall backward off the branch and are just caught by Hound before hitting the ground. "You can turn into a human?" You sputter as you are lifted back to your branch.

"Sure. I've actually been human before. I agreed to be the test subject for Perceptor when the water was originally brought back with them from the planet of Traal."

It takes a moment for you to get your bearings. You shake your head and then stare at Hound with amazement. "You mean to tell me there is some water, that some group of aliens made, that can make you human?"

"If I recall they didn't make it, it occurs naturally." Hound answers your question calmly.

"Naturally?" You scoff. "That's impossible."

Hound rumbles with laughter. "Apparently it's improbable, not impossible, as it does exist."

"But how can such a thing exist?" You ask, excitement singing out of your voice.

"You humans are so funny, you know." Hound chuckles, clearly amused by your little outburst. "You live on this tiny planet that has so many natural wonders, some of which aren't anywhere else in the universe that I know of."

"How is that funny?" You demand, scowling at what you think is a slight on the human race.

"You live in this little bubble, where as far as you know, you humans are the most intelligent life in your little existence. Then we come along. Obviously well ahead of your development. How can you not think that all the things you've been taught should be thrown out the window?"

"I thought you liked humans." You ask incredulously. "You did say you want to be one."

"I do, but just so I can experience this world as you do. I want to learn how it feels to be human. To eat an apple and feel the juices slide down the throat. To swim in the ocean with all the life. To sit and gaze at the animals as they move from one place to another." Hound temporarily gazes at a caterpillar moving along the branch next to your hand.

"Well I envy you." You snap, immediately regretting your original outburst.

"Really?" Hound looks up at you and smiles.

"You get to travel to all of these unknown places. Boldly go where no one has gone before." You gaze at the sky longingly.

"We're a lot alike, the two of us." Hound says, following your gaze. "We both want something that the other can't really comprehend."

"Even the chance to just see Saturn up close would be enough to last for a life time."

"I can personally say, that once you've tasted what you want, just for a minute, you'll get hungry for more."

You take your eyes away from the sky and stare at the mech before you. How young the two of you seem, dreaming about something that is different than what you were given.

"You keep that dream Hound. One of these days you'll get what you want at least. So many dreams are stomped on by others here."

Hound steps away and transforms into what looks like the jeep your father used to drive when you went on camping trips.

"I assure you that happens everywhere I've been, but that water works both ways."

Your feet hit the ground and come out from under you as you comprehend what you are being told. Hound laughs as you pick yourself up off the ground and dust yourself off.

"Very funny." You say, good naturedly. You climb into the passenger seat and a hologram appears in the driver's seat. "What the…hell?" You ask.

"That's a hologram. Keeps people from scaring if there is something in the driver's seat." Hound takes off down the same path you and Bee had driven less than an hour ago.

"So this water, it could change me into a bird or something and I could fly?" You ask as the wind crashes into your face. You half expect to swallow a bug before you make it back to the Ark.

"From what Perceptor said, the water literally strips away the outer shell of a being and leaves the essence. Then the essence chooses what it wants to be shaped into and that is what you become." Hound said through speakers on the dashboard.

"You say you've tried it?"

"Yeah. When the group that went to Traal returned, Perceptor had gotten permission to take a small amount of the liquid. The scientist spent weeks studying its molecular structure and was able to make it into a gaseous spray that shoots out of a shower head. Then of course the mech had to go and duplicate the stuff."

"So you've managed to recreate this fluid that has these biblical powers. Is that safe?" Changing tapes again, and counting the ones you have in your bag, hoping you've brought enough.

"Depends on who you talk to. Some mechs, like Sunstreaker won't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. I jumped at the chance. Perceptor had me change into a human for a day. Now I was curious to see what being a human was at the time, but being human for a day was what made me want to change permanently."

"So you can't take you to Paris and then drag ya back to the farm." You laugh. Hound joins in.

"A good assessment. I've been shown what it's like to have my desire and now I wait patiently until I can have my reward."

You lean back into Hound's interior and put your feet up on the dash board. This is something you do when you are comfortable, but then you sit up quickly. "Sorry."

"What for?"

"I had my feet on you." You say, clearly embarrassed.

"You have your feet on me now too." Hound states matter-of-factly.

You turn beet red, as you realize that it's true. No matter where you put your feet, they will be touching the Autobot. You turn to the side and dangle your feet over the side of the door, causing Hound to cackle with laughter. You follow suit and laugh along.

"I'm sorry. The only excuse I have is this whole thing is rather new to me."

"Don't worry about it. At least you care." Hound laughs again, then asks, "What are your desires. You're getting a Doctorate in Sociology. You like looking at other cultures?"

"People have always fascinated me. Any people. I spent a year in Africa with a friend of mine studying the ants on the prairie. It's amazing how much you can get done if you work together."

"I remember Spike bringing in something called an ant farm at one point and showing it to me. He was doing a biology report on them. Ants have such a short life that they were all dead within a year or so."

"Well if they don't have a queen, then the colony will die out." You state, sitting yourself up, although the revert back to your childhood days clings onto your thoughts. "So goes life."

"Did you learn a lot about cultures that differ greatly from your own upbringing while on your trips?"

"I can never get enough of learning about things I wasn't around while growing up. It surprises me just how different we can be from one another. My favorite study was spending time with the Aka Pygmies in Central African Republic. I haven't seen the amount of caring from a group in a long time, especially from the people who occupy the industrial parts of the world."

"Would you go and live with them if you had a choice. Give up everything you had in order to live with such a caring people?"

You think about this question for a minute. Before you would have jumped at the chance to actually be accepted into their society and spend years living their way of life.

"Truthfully, that has changed since my conversation with Bumblebee. I would have loved the chance to shed this exterior and live in such a different place. Different only because it's not where I grew up."

"And now?" Hound probes, trying to get you to open up.

"Now that I've actually seen a culture not of this world, I kinda wish I could travel the galaxy. Seek out new life forms, so to speak." You laugh, images of 'Star Trek' flashing in your brain.

"So that is what you desire now, exploration?"

"No, I was exploring before, I just want to expand my options to include other planets now." You say, as Hound pulls up to the front of the Ark. "What about you?" You ask, jumping out so Hound can transform.

"I would like to go to a place where I can relax and not have to worry about this war. I may want to be human, but I also want this war to end." Hound doesn't transform.

"How long have you been fighting?" You ask, going back to Carly's car and grabbing a sandwich out of your cooler.

"Longer than I care to remember." You can barely hear Hound's answer.

"You're not coming back inside?" You ask, taking a bite of your food.

"No, I've got to get to the hospital. I'm reading to the kids in the children's ward." Hound replies, turning to go back the way you just came. "I can see Bluestreak burning like a bat outta hell toward the Ark though. If you wait a few minutes the two of you can walk in together." Hound takes off, honking as a good bye.

You watch as Hound speeds off and can just make out a form shooting toward you. It takes a few seconds to inhale your food, then you wait, wondering what Bluestreak will be like. In less than two minutes the figure stops and transforms. Bluestreak, you see, isn't blue at all, more like grey.

Bluestreak is mumbling to no one. "So what if you have problems, everyone does. So of course you take Jazz's advice," Bluestreak's voice changes pitch to a slightly lower tone. "'Go see a human psychiatrist' the mech says, 'it'll be good for ya' the mech says, 'it'll help ya' the mech says, why do you do whatever that mech tells you to do? I'll tell you why…"

At this point you are sure Bluestreak doesn't know you are standing by Carly's car. "Are you okay Bluestreak?" You ask.

Bluestreak stops mid-sentence and mid-step, turning to gaze at you. The mech regards you carefully for a few seconds and you decide to stay perfectly still. "You Carly's friend?"

You smile and walk forward, extending your hand. "I am, nice to meet you Bluestreak."

A smile breaks out and Bluestreak takes your hand, shaking it vigorously. "Hound radioed me as I was coming in, told me you were here and doing a paper on Cybertronian culture, you certainly came to the right place, I mean, after all, you wouldn't want to get the information from the Decepticons, can't trust them, well you can I guess, trust them to deceive you first chance they get…"

Bluestreak continues babbling and you immediately understand the name. Bluestreak's entire demeanor changed in two seconds flat, which of course plants seeds of intrigue inside of your mind. Why was Bluestreak at a psychiatrist's office? Why was there frustration just a moment ago? How did that frustration evaporate and leave this insanely, vibrant, character, who is chattering to you like a best friend.

"…never have met a Decepticon I didn't like, even Thundercracker, although that mech is pretty screwed up, doesn't know what to do. Gotta hand it to Megatron, more style in one little servo than my entire chassis, to sway some of those neutrals into the Decepticon cause." Bluestreak stops for a moment and looks at your bewildered expression. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but why were you at a psychiatrists office?"

Immediately the friendly Autobot reverts back into a shell, sadness creeping into those eyes. 'Great,' you think. 'I've gone and opened up another can of worms.'


	10. Comfort

Comfort

Bluestreak glares at you for about 30 seconds, making you extremely uncomfortable. Finally the glare stops and Bluestreak continues the happy banter. "You know, I'm a gunner, have been for a while now. Do you know what a gunner is, let me tell you what a gunner is, a gunner is…"

Bluestreak bends down and picks you up and your eyes get wide. This completely unexpected development makes you feel like a child again, like when your parents used to scoop you up on the way out the door.

The mech starts walking towards the opening of the Ark, chattering away like you are a best friend, here on a visit. You can do nothing but listen to the constant drone of excitement as Bluestreak tells you all about being a gunner and how no one else can shoot as well.

Your squirming finally makes Bluestreak take notice of you being held between the arms and upper body.

"I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable, I do that sometimes. Jazz is always telling me I need to think before I act, since my actions seem to have a mind of their own. Should I put you down, I'll put you down and we can walk together." Bluestreak places you back down on your feet and looks at you curiously.

When you don't say anything, Bluestreak continues, "I didn't hurt you did I? Cause I would feel bad if I hurt a new friend right when I met them. I didn't mean…"

"Calm down Bluestreak, you didn't hurt me. Startled me, yes, but I'm okay." You laugh lightly as you straighten out the wrinkles in your shirt. You turn to head back to the car to get your bag.

"Wait!" Bluestreak calls after you. "You're not leaving are you, you did say I didn't hurt you, right? You're not leaving because of something I did are you."

"Relax, I need my bag of tapes." You assure the gunner. "It's by the car out front. I don't want to run out of tapes."

"Oh." Is the short response, directly followed by, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave your possessions out front, if I had known…"

You put your hand up and surprisingly Bluestreak stops talking. "Do you want to come with me, or do you want to wait here. I'll only be a minute."

"Well sure I'll come with you, what are friends for except to keep you company when you don't want to be alone. I don't like being alone myself, it can get rather boring and sometimes it can't be helped because of the war and all." Bluestreak continues talking about anything and everything while the two of you walk out to the car.

"I like Carly's car." Bluestreak says, going onto a completely different tangent. "Maybe I should have Teletran-1 change my alternate mode to the same model car she drives. I mean I like the Datsun, don't get me wrong, Prowl has the same alternate mode, but, I don't know about the color. Do you think purple would suit me, or should I go with green like Hound."

It takes a lot of control for you not to laugh at the way Bluestreak keeps going on and on. It isn't annoying, which you are sure some of Bluestreak's companions would disagree with, but is rather long winded.

"Can I ask you a question Bluestreak?" You ask when there seems to be a slight pause.

"Oh, you can ask anything. I like answering questions, that's why I go to the schools when they want a guest speaker, cause I like talking and the kids, they like me talking to them."

"I'm sure they do Bluestreak." You laugh.

"You can call me Blue, all my friends do, and even some who don't really like me do too, though sometimes they call me names or tell me to shut up, which isn't very nice, I mean, I don't go around telling people to shut up, but in the end we're all friends and have a good time together."

A twinkle lights your eyes as you process all that you are being told. "Please don't take offense at my laughing, but you are too much." You say, laughing. "That's a compliment, by the way." You add, seeing the confusion. Before Blue can start up again, you seriously ask, "Can I really ask any question I like and you promise to answer me?"

"Promise." Bluestreak says, then adds while holding up the index, middle and ring finger in the 'scout's honor' pose. "Honor bright."

You look at the Autobot before you and blurt out the question before you have another chance to think about it and change your mind. "Why were you at a psychiatrist office?"

Bluestreak immediately clams up again. You can see the contention burning through the features of Blue's face. You feel bad, but based on the earlier episode, you decide it might be helpful for Blue to have someone to talk to.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Blue starts. "But I made a promise and I don't like to go back on a promise, cause it makes me feel crummy and then I can't focus like I should and that can cause people to get hurt and…"

You walk over to the mech and put a hand on one of the legs. Bluestreak stops talking and looks at your concerned expression. In a remorseful voice you say, "It's okay Blue. I know it can be hard, but sometimes it's good to tell a stranger, especially if, said stranger, is willing to listen."

Bluestreak walks over toward Carly's car and sits down in the dirt, arms hung in defeat. You feel like a heal asking the poor creature to bare its soul to you, but from personal experience, talking seems to make things better. You walk over and hop up on the trunk of the car.

"I was seeing a psychiatrist because of the nightmares keeping me from recharging at night." This time Bluestreak speaks slowly and sadly.

"What are the nightmares?" You ask softly.

"Seeing all the mechs in my home city dead because of the Decepticons."

You realize what Blue is suffering from and don't envy anything. "I guess PTSD is hard to deal with anywhere in the universe?"

"PTSD?" Bluestreak looks at you in confusion.

"Post traumatic stress disorder. Happens when something truly terrifying happens to a person."

"Seeing your home town decimated after the Decepticons visited would definitely count as terrifying."

You sigh and lower your head. "There aren't words to describe how sorry I am your home was destroyed. How long ago was that?"

"So long ago, I can't quite remember." Bluestreak answers sullenly. "What do you do on this planet for people who suffer like this?"

"There's not much you can do, without medications. The best way to overcome your fear, is to either talk about it or to face it. Have you spoken with your friends, maybe they can help."

"They don't want to hear about it or they won't care. Those who already know about it, don't bring it up, so I pretend it doesn't exist, if I can."

You look up at Bluestreak, slumped over in dejection. "I'm sure your friends would be more than willing to talk to you or to listen."

"I'm not even sure how you were able to get me to talk about it. I don't usually talk about it with anyone. Of course no one else pushes me to talk about it either."

"Now just a minute Blue," You say, smiling. "That wasn't pushy, it was concern. I don't like to see anyone suffer. Call it empathy, but when I see people in pain, I can feel it too."

Bluestreak looks over at you and smiles. "I guess you were right, it does kind of help to talk about it. I don't feel nearly as awful about seeing the psychiatrist as I did when I got back."

"What happened with the doctor?"

"I walked in and she screamed. I was so freaked out, I turned and hightailed it back here as fast as I could. Got a speeding ticket too." Bluestreak pulled the ticket out of nowhere and held it up proudly.

"I don't think I've met someone who was happy about getting a ticket." You say, laughing.

Bluestreak grins widely. "I haven't gotten a ticket before and I'm always getting picked on by Sides that I haven't, so now I have one. I think I'll frame it and put it on my wall."

"Well if you're happy, then I'm happy." You say, jumping off the back of Carly's trunk. "And, if you ever want to talk, just let Carly know and she can give you my e-mail address. I open it daily, sometimes multiple times." You place a hand on Bluestreak's arm.

"I appreciate that." Blue jumps up and puts the paper back into nowhere.

"Uh, hey, just one question?" You ask, Blue immediately is on edge again. "No, nothing like that, but where did the ticket come from and where did it go?"

"Oh." Blue's face immediately perks up again. "I guess I don't really know all the properties of it, Ratchet tried to explain once, but I didn't understand. Wheeljack eventually told me in a way I could understand. Have you met Wheeljack, one of the nicest mechs you could ever know. Always really kind when making sure I understand something. Have you met Wheeljack, one of the smartest mechs too, always creating something, though sometimes it blows up. Doesn't mean for it to, it just does. Have you met Wheeljack?" Blue looks at you for a moment.

"The one without a face, right?"

"Wheeljack has a face, just not like mine. Has a kind of mask on the lower half, but the eyes can still be seen."

"I did meet Wheeljack. What's with the mask?" You ask, remembering the mech Blue was babbling about.

"Just the way 'Jack's creator made the mech. Not everyone has a mouth like I do. Guess Wheeljack's creator didn't see the reason for a mouth. It's not like we really need it." Bluestreak rambles on. "Prime was created with a face plate of sorts too, but didn't always have one, at least that's the rumor. Was given the mask because Alpha Trion recreated Prime from a normal mech, at the time, to a warrior."

"I guess I can understand that, make the outside as productive as possible and if you don't need the mouth, then why have it?"

For a second you are silent, trying to remember what your original question was. Blue stares at you with an interested expression, waiting patiently for you to continue.

"Oh, what was the reason your ticket disappeared?" You ask.

"Wheeljack would be a better mech to explain, but I'll try." Blue says to you. "I guess it has to do with an alternate region of space that we have the ability to access. Each of us is given a 'pocket' to store things in, that way we can keep our weapons and other personal things out of the way."

"Nice, where can I get one?"

"I don't know." Blue's face became sad again. "My creator could have told you, but was killed when the Decepticons attacked."

"It's okay Blue. You don't have to talk anymore about it and I promise not to tell anyone about what you've told me." You smile at Bluestreak reassuringly.

"Thanks." Blue answers. It takes a few seconds, but that child like innocence is back and Blue continues on. "What are you studying exactly, are we going to help, is that why you're here?"

You laugh at Blue's 180 in emotions. "I'm doing my Doctorate on a new culture. I can't think of a newer culture than an alien one."

"You're going to write a paper about us?" Blue is intrigued.

"It should be an interesting experience." You say, changing your tape again, and starting back into the Ark, Bluestreak right next to you.

"What did you get your first degrees in?"

"I have a Bachelors in Sociological Studies. My Masters is in the Social Sciences. This is just an extension on what I've been studying in school."

"When did you start your schooling?"

"Well, I actually graduated from high school early, when I was 15. I haven't really stopped my schooling. I've been working and getting my degrees since then, so I'm a lot younger than a number of the ones in my classes. Like the Economics class I took with Carly, I was easily five years younger than the next youngest in the class, who I think was Carly."

The two of you round a corner while Bluestreak asks, "So how old are you, for a human, I mean?"

"I'll be 23 in a few months."

"So you must be really smart to be getting your degree so young. You should meet Perceptor and Wheeljack, you'd probably hit it off with them cause they're so smart and they both had a lot of schooling. I think Ratchet and Prowl and Jazz and Jetfire have a lot of schooling too, you should really meet them. Have you met them yet?

You don't get a chance to answer because a red blur speeds past you and stops at the end of the hallway. A mech covered mostly in red comes back toward you and Blue from the end of the hallway.

"I'm glad to run into you Blue." The red mech says, looking at you then back at Bluestreak.

"Hi Sideswipe. Whatcha doing?" Blue asks.

"I'm gonna help old Prowl lighten up, I need both your help." Sideswipe says.

"What for?" Comes the suspicious reply from Blue. "The last time you tried to get me to help you lighten someone up, I ended up with double shifts for four straight days. That's hard on a mech."

"Oh don't worry. We won't get caught. I found the coolest trick on that thing you humans call the Internet." Sideswipe said, then looks at you. "Do you know where we can get some industrial strength plastic wrap?"


	11. Pranks

Pranks

Bluestreak has a look of skepticism while looking at Sideswipe. You wear amusement openly, knowing full well where this is going.

"I don't think plastic wrap is going to be strong enough." You say to both of your companions.

"Why now?" Sideswipe gets down on one knee to look at you.

"Because you are way too heavy, it'll be like using tissue paper when trying that trick on me."

"What are you doing anyway Sideswipe. Can't you just leave Prowl alone, I mean Prowl has a lot going on all the time and doesn't seem too happy when you try to lighten anyone up."

"Quiet for a minute Blue." Sideswipe snaps at Blue, who shrinks down like a dog who has just been hit with a rolled up magazine. Sideswipe looks back at you. "What do you know?"

"Not much, but that was rather rude. Blue just had a question."

"Blue'll get over it." Sideswipe said, urging you to continue. You notice Bluestreak perks up that someone is actually willing to defend.

You stare at the being, who is obviously a little self involved not to care about hurting someone else's feelings. "I want no part in anything." You state with conviction.

"Fine." Sideswipe replies in a huffy tone. "Come on Blue. You and I'll work on this on our own." Sideswipe stands up and wraps and arm around Bluestreak. Blue nods and makes to walk away with Sideswipe.

You stare in shock for a moment, thinking of the character Tim in the book of the same name by Colleen McCullough. Finally, not wanting to leave Bluestreak at the hands of Sideswipe, you run after the two.

"I knew you'd change your mind." Sideswipe all but sneers at you.

"What do you want to know?" You ask.

Sideswipe isn't able to get the question out before you three notice Ratchet and Wheeljack come around the corner and make their way toward you. Ratchet looks from Sideswipe to Bluestreak and then at you.

"Well you three are clearly up to no good." Ratchet states. "They aren't corrupting you are they?" Ratchet directs the next question at you.

"Aw, come on now Ratch." Sideswipe purrs into Ratchet's ear, or whatever it is the Autobots refer to as ears. "Does this look like the face of a mech who could corrupt anything?" Sideswipe asks, wrapping an arm around Ratchet's shoulders.

"Sideswipe, you could corrupt a rock, and the fact that you've managed to get your tentacles all over Bluestreak again justifies my point." Ratchet says, brushing Sideswipe away.

"I do not have tentacles." Sideswipe snaps in a scandalized tone.

You watch the confrontation in amusement. A smile slowly spreads across your face as the two square off.

"Look Ratch, they're just talking. Why not let them be?" Wheeljack asks before either two could get off another round of words. Wheeljack looks at Bluestreak, who is unusually quiet, then at you.

"Wheeljack is right Ratchet, we're just talking." You speak up, more from wanting the uncomfortable Bluestreak to perk up again than anything else.

"See!" Sideswipe barks into Ratchet's face.

"Shout in my face again Sideswipe and I'll cut out your vocalizer and let the mini-bots use it as a hockey puck." Ratchet says in a creepily calm tone. After your little dissection earlier in the day, you have no doubt that the threat is actually a promise.

"Easy now Ratch, why don't you tell me more about this party you want to have tonight." Wheeljack steps in between Ratchet and Sideswipe. Ratchet gives one more glance at Sideswipe then turns on you.

"No matter what Prowl says, there will be a little shindig tonight, probably around nine pm, pacific standard time." Ratchet tells you. "You should come and get further acquainted with my fellow Autobots. They're all pretty curious about your study."

"Um, I'll try." You say, knowing full well that you have to be back at the airport for your ten pm flight. Ratchet smiles and starts to walk down the hallway, Wheeljack nods at you and follows. "That one has like multiple personalities or something. When I helped dissect that corpse, Ratchet was more happy-go-lucky. Would Ratchet really have attacked you?" You ask Sideswipe.

"Of course not. Doc Ratchet loves me." Sideswipe says with an air of superiority, like Ratchet could never care about anyone else.

"Ratchet didn't seem too pleased to see the two of you together." You press, "Why?"

Bluestreak's mouth shot off before you or Sideswipe had time to process anything.

"Ratchet gets mad when Sides decides to have a little bit of fun because it usually results in someone needing to be repaired in the med bay, because then Ratch needs to spend time fixing someone on free time. A medic's work is never done, I've heard Ratchet say that so many times when I come in with pieces missing or broken whatever. It's really not fun to be on the opposite end of Ratchet's temper, cause then you end up with something being thrown at you and Ratchet's got a pretty dead aim. I've always wanted to test my aim against Ratchet, cause Prowl said I've got a better aim than most mechs and since Ratchet is able to hit me with a wrench from across the room."

You look at Sideswipe, who has an amused smile showing. You then look back at Blue, who continues with the tirade.

"Ratchet seems to like you though, making sure you were okay with Sideswipe." Blue looks at Sideswipe's slight change in facial features. "Not that Sideswipe is bad to be around. I enjoy being around Sides and I always tend to laugh when we're together, even if Sunny makes me a little nervous."

"Alright Blue, that's enough." Sideswipe interjects before Bluestreak can continue on. "We have work to do."

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea." You mumble, knowing full well that even if you didn't help, you would still be an accomplice just by knowing Sideswipe was planning something.

"Oh grow a backbone." Sideswipe says, but with laughter.

"What are you doing?" You sigh, slightly annoyed.

"I want to take plastic wrap and put it over the door to Prowl's room. This'll keep the mech from leaving the room."

Visions of playing that prank on your old babysitters and parents flood your memory. "I actually did something like that with a toilet once." You laugh as the memory of your mother making a mess comes into the forefront of your mind.

"How does that work?" Bluestreak asks, beyond curious.

"I guess I've said too much not to tell ya, but don't tell anyone you learned this from me." You say, a twinkle in your eyes. Sides looks at you, just as interested in Bluestreak. "Okay, so the toilet is where humans deposit their excrement." You begin, realizing that you might have to give some background information before the actual process for the prank. Both Autobots look confused.

"When a person eats, the excess food that isn't used for energy is flushed from the system. It's called excrement." You wait until both Autobots nod their understanding, then you continue. "So me being the horse's ass that I am, took plastic wrap and put it over the bowl of the toilet. Well imagine this excrement, which by the way is something people don't like having around, doesn't get into said bowl, it sits on the wrap, covering your butt, or runs over the side of the bowl onto the floor."

"That's gross, you actually did that, why would you do that to your mother!" Bluestreak asks completely mortified at the idea.

"It was a joke, it was meant to be funny." You laugh at Blue's reaction. Sideswipe looks on at you with an approved look.

"I take my hat off to you." Sideswipe bows in front of you, causing you to snicker all the more.

"The problem with your plan though is Prowl is too heavy. It'll never hold him." You say when Sideswipe stands back up.

"That's where this comes in." Sideswipe proudly holds up a canister of something.

"What is that?" Bluestreak asks.

"This is a little compound Wheeljack has been working on to make flimsy things sturdier."

"You took that from Wheeljack's lab?" Blue squawks. "Jack'll kill ya."

"Jack should learn to keep the pass code for the door more difficult to crack." Sideswipe states the fact.

"Well maybe you should have more integrity than to go into a room you don't belong in." You retort, causing Blue to snicker.

"Touché, but Blue here has enough integrity for the both of us." Sideswipe shoves Bluestreak playfully. "Now, all I need is plastic wrap. I believe there is some in the human sized lounge, but I can't get my sorry chassis into the room." Sideswipe looks at you. "That's where you come in." Sideswipe grins devilishly and starts off down the hall. You and Blue look at one another and follow.

For about five minutes you try to play catch up with the two Autobots. Bluestreak occasionally stops so you can catch up, but Sideswipe keeps walking until disappearing around a corner.

"I know where to go, don't worry." Bluestreak says.

"I'm not worried about losing Sideswipe, more about what's going to happen when we get caught." The two of you continue on until you spot Sideswipe parked out in front of a door that's human size.

"Now, I need you to go in there and look for plastic wrap. I'm sure there's some in a drawer." Sideswipe says.

"What if someone questions me when I walk in there?"

"There's no one in there. I already checked."

"Alright." You say, defeated. You walk into the room and see that it's set up kind of like the kitchen in the dorm room you stayed in while getting your Masters. There's a sink, table, chairs, refrigerator, microwave and a conventional oven.

You make your way over to the drawers by the sink and start pulling them open. The first drawer, logically, has plastic silverware. The second drawer has cutlery and measuring apparatuses. The third drawer down has paper napkins and a hammer. You hit the jackpot in the fourth drawer. There are garbage bags, plastic baggies, aluminum foil and a large box of plastic wrap.

You grab the plastic wrap and head for the door. Sideswipe pushes it open and almost slams it into your face. "You done yet?"

"Yeah, that would be why the door almost broke my nose." You say sarcastically, handing over the plastic wrap.

Sideswipe grabs the box from your hand and starts walking away. "Follow me."

You and Bluestreak again follow, to where you assume Prowl's office is located. It takes you a few minutes to get there; Sideswipe is already on the floor, trying to remove the plastic wrap from the container.

"Gimmie that." You snap, taking the plastic wrap from Sideswipe's hands.

The mech stares at you in surprise, then says, "This is more like it." The comment is a little more cheerful than you would normally like.

You pull out pieces of the wrap, a few inches longer than the doorway. When you have three, all spread out in front of the door, you turn to Sideswipe for further instructions. Sideswipe produces the compound and a few paint brushes from the subspace pocket Bluestreak told you about.

"Now, the quicker we get this done, the faster we can be out of here. Prowl is in his room for another 45 minutes. That'll give us time to coat the wrap, stick it to the doorframe and hightail it outta here." Sideswipe says, handing both you and Bluestreak a paintbrush.

Reluctantly you take the brush and start to coat the wrap. It takes the three of you a few minutes and the compound is on the wrap. Sideswipe picks up a piece and tests it out. The agent, you deduce, must dry quickly because the wrap is now a lot stronger, but not quite erect.

Sideswipe and Bluestreak stand on opposite sides of the door and start to put the wrap over the door. You admit to yourself that it is barely noticeable. You hand them the second piece and turn around for the third piece. As you lift your eyes, you drop it. Prowl is watching the three of you from the end of the hallway.

"Uh, I think we're busted." You say to your conspirators.

"Aw Prowl. You were supposed to be in your room for another 30 Earth minutes." Sideswipe whines.

"Ratchet warned me that the three of you were milling around in the hallway and that's never a good thing." Prowl says in an even tone.

"You gotta admit though Prowl, it woulda been a good trick, you should hear some of the things you can do with this stuff." Bluestreak says, holding up the box of plastic wrap.

"I'm sure the two of you would have had a great laugh at my expense." Prowl says, again no emotion. "Why don't you come inside and we can talk about it." Prowl then looks at you. "I can't very well punish you when you're leaving at seven tonight, so I'll let you off with a warning, if you come back here and insist on getting caught up in Sideswipe's schemes, then be prepared to suffer the consequences."

Prowl walks into the office, Sideswipe just behind. Bluestreak looks at you for a moment. "You're not going to be here for Ratchet's party?" You can hear a hint of hurt.

"I'm sorry Blue, but I've got to work tomorrow. I can't afford to lose my job." You say, feeling sorry that you had told Ratchet you would see what you could do about the party. "But hey, I told you if you, or anyone else, wants to talk, get in touch with Carly and she'll give you my e-mail address."

"Get in here Bluestreak." Prowl calls from the office.

Although slightly bummed at your not hanging around more, Bluestreak smiles and walks into the office, leaving you outside by yourself. You debate what to do. You can't remember how you got here, so you decide to come back the way you think you came.

Within ten minutes, you are completely lost, chastising yourself for not having Ratchet print out a map of the Ark for you when you were in the med lab. You turn around to head back the way you came, hoping to run into someone who can point you in the right direction.

A couple of minutes later, you are at a cross section you don't recognize. Your start to head to the left, but hear a noise from the right hallway. Deciding a noise usually means people, you start down that hallway.

Within a hundred feet or so, you stop by an open doorway. Cautiously you look in and marvel at the site before you. There is a large canvas spread out on the wall and a yellow colored mech is painting it.

You deduce the picture must be of the Cybertron planet as there is no place on Earth that looks like that. Slowly you step into the room and look around. There are pictures of various sizes and kinds hanging from the walls. You are in awe.

"Are you going to stand there and gawk like a fragging Dinobot or tell me who the pit you are?" Comes a snide question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you could see me." You tell the mech, who hasn't turned around.

"My audio receptors are far superior to your human ears, I could hear you coming down the hallway."

"These are beautiful." You comment, looking at the pictures. "You have quite a talent, um, I don't know your name."

"Sunstreaker." The mech snaps at you. "You going to tell me why you're in my studio bothering me?"


	12. Art

Art

"I kinda got lost trying to find my way back from Prowl's office." You admit.

Sunstreaker scoffs at you. "What did you do to warrant a visit to the detention center?"

"Oh, Sideswipe came up with an idea, involving plastic wrap and Prowls door, then coerced Bluestreak and I to help out."

"That sorry excuse for an Autobot." Sunstreaker laughs, menacingly. "I knew Sides was up to no good when I got a mental picture of Prowl walking through a door and falling backward."

"You two can communicate with each other?"

"Unfortunately." You know by the way Sunstreaker says that remark, that it's time to leave well enough alone.

"What are these pictures of?" You ask, walking toward the far wall and looking at a picture of some sort of planet.

Sunstreaker glances over at where you are looking and says, "Cybertron."

"This is your home planet? Primus is in the center?" You ask, trying to make the uncomfortable silence go away.

"Whatever you believe."

Seeing as how Sunstreaker doesn't seem to be interested in any type of conversation, you continue around the room and look at the pictures. You see a picture that seems to be a still life of some sort. There was a can of what looks like wax, a polishing cloth and a brush.

The next picture is of Sideswipe, obviously sleeping. You remember your conversation with Carly earlier that day; Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were twins. You want to ask more questions about that, but you know that Sunstreaker is barely tolerating your presence now.

The next picture is some abstract work, using various shapes and colors. It looks an awful lot like 'Wheat Field With Crows' by van Gogh, just using geometric shapes instead of actual likenesses.

Deciding to brave getting your head torn off, you ask, "Do you like Earth art?" Sunstreaker doesn't answer you. Deciding to press on, you ask, "Do you like van Gogh?"

"I have read about Vincent van Gogh, and yes I find his works tend to calm my CPU." Sunstreaker says, not taking eyes off of the latest project.

"Who is your favorite Earth artist?" You ask, easing up a little since your head is still firmly attached to your neck.

"Why do you care?" The mech snaps at you.

"I happen to enjoy art and I'm just trying to make polite conversation." You say evenly.

"I don't want polite conversation. If you want to talk, go find Bluestreak. Mech can't keep that vocalizer shut for very long."

"I already told you I got lost coming down here. No way I'm leaving only to get further lost in this place."

"Can't you go back the way you came?" The question is dripping with exasperation.

"All the hallways in this place look exactly the same to me." You answer dryly.

"Fine, if you must stay, shut up and let me work."

A little taken aback, you decide to continue looking at the pictures, rather than try to make conversation. After a few minutes of silence and what you assume is Sunstreaker swearing in Cybertronian, you realize that you are hungry again.

You walk over to your bag and open it to look for another granola bar. As quietly as you can, you unwrap it and put the wrapper back in your bag. Then you continue around the room. Your eyes land on a piece that makes you choke.

This is enough to startle Sunstreaker out of whatever daze the mech is in. Sunstreaker walks over to you and thumps your back with a finger, causing the food to fly out of your throat and into your mouth. You quickly swallow and wipe the tears from your eyes.

"This is an exact replica of 'Nympheas' by Monet isn't it?" Surprise etched in your voice.

"It is, I happen to like his work." For a moment Sunstreaker contemplates you. You obviously know your stuff. "You know a lot about art?"

"Not a lot, but enough to get me by in civilized conversation." You say, not wanting to take your eyes off of the piece.

"I was an artist back on Cybertron, before this fragging war started." Sunstreaker says softly.

"I'm not surprised. These painting are exquisite. You could probably make a lot of money selling these here on Earth, or better yet, you should have a show."

"I'm not about to let myself get put on display for anyone." Sunstreaker says with the same air of superiority you heard Sideswipe display earlier.

"A talent like yours shouldn't go to waste."

"It won't. Once this ridiculous war is over, I'll take them back to Cybertron and let mech buy them at that time."

"Do your comrades in arms know you have this talent?" You ask, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Sideswipe does, but no one else here knows I come to this room and paint, or draw, or whatever. I don't want them to know. That's why this room is so far from the populated area."

For a moment you feel Sunstreaker boring holes into your head. You look up and see a face full of contempt. "I promise I won't tell." You say, forcing yourself to laugh.

Abruptly Sunstreaker turns around and goes back to the current piece. "Good."

You walk up to the painting, easily the largest in the room. Sunstreaker is using some kind of acrylic based paint that leaves a number of irregularities on the piece. You decide that is what the desired outcome is.

"Can I ask what this is a picture of?" You say, looking at the picture.

"This was the city of Iacon before the war." Sunstreaker states, using a tiny brush to add some detail to one of the buildings.

"Did you live here?"

"For a time. I don't much care for others, so I tend to stay on the city outskirts, where I'm less likely to run into a whole bunch of mech."

You watch Sunstreaker put meticulous care into the decided brush strokes. Within minutes, you can actually see the flaws and the architecture of the building. Without realizing what you are doing, you walk right under Sunstreaker, who pauses slightly at discovering you directly below.

"What are you doing?" Comes a demand.

"This is incredible. I want a better view." You whisper, looking at the building and almost imagining you were just across the street from it and seeing it with your own eyes.

"Then don't move." Sunstreaker continues to add dimension to the building, each stroke making the building jump to life in front of you.

"I feel as if I can almost touch it." You say, bringing a finger up.

"You smudge my paint, I'll leave you down here and forget I ever ran into you." Sunstreaker snarls, causing you to take your hand and put it back to your side rather quickly.

"Point taken." You say, looking up at Sunstreaker's glowering face and smiling. "What is this place?"

"My first gallery was in the lower level of this building. I sold my first painting there." Sunstreaker answers after a few seconds of reminiscing.

"What happened to it?"

"Those sorry excuses for Cybertronians destroyed it. I wasn't in there at the time, but two of my pieces were still in the building. A painting of the binary star Cybertron orbited. The other was a sculpture of Prima, the first Cybertronian created of Primus."

"That must have been hard." You state slowly, knowing full well that no matter how much it hurts, Sunstreaker would probably brush it off.

"I don't care anymore."

'I don't believe you.' You say to yourself, but wisely keep your mouth shut. "Have you ever thought about creating them again?"

"What for? It's not like they have anywhere to go right now." Sunstreaker snaps, cleaning off the brush and putting it carefully back onto a tray of waiting brushes.

You walk away from the wall. "Then why do you paint all of these?" You ask, your arms raised toward the pictures on the walls.

"Because I need some sort of out too." Sunstreaker snarls at you. "I'm not a social mech like Sideswipe. I don't want to go around and laugh with the crew. I couldn't care less about the crew. I know everyone thinks I'm one step away from being some piece of slag Decepticon and they're probably right." Then Sunstreaker says softly. "Besides, purple is a heinous color."

You raise your eyebrows at the sudden outburst and realize that all these mechs must have it a lot harder than they let on. No one should have to go for as long as they have, fighting just to stay alive.

"You are aware that if you mix the color of your eyes with that face thing you all wear, that makes the color purple, right?" You ask, even though you realize it probably won't do any good.

Sunstreaker glares at you for a moment. "Don't move, stay right there." This is no request, it is a demand.

Startled into almost submission, you keep your arms raised and the confused look on your face. Sunstreaker grabs a piece of poster board and attaches it to an easel. Then grabs a pencil looking device from nowhere.

Too startled to do anything but stand there, you watch as Sunstreaker starts to draw the general outline on the material. Your eyes start to get wider as you realize that Sunstreaker must be drawing you.

"You move, even a millimeter, I'll throw you out the door and leave you to crawl your sorry aft out of here."

You hold that pose for another twenty minutes, wishing you could lower your arms, but knowing that the threat was probably a promise. 'Man these Autobots sure don't make empty threats do they?' You say to yourself.

"Put your arms down, you look ridiculous." Sunstreaker says, putting the pencil away and pulling out what appears to be a darker drawing utensil, probably charcoal, and some green tinted water colors.

You put your arms down, but don't move from that spot. Sunstreaker spends another ten minutes drawing on the paper, then sprays some sort of sealer onto the paper. After a few minutes of waiving a fan in front of the poster board, Sunstreaker starts to paint over the entire piece with a mint green water color.

After applying the water color, Sunstreaker steps back to admire the piece. Slowly you walk around to see what could have possibly caught the artist's eye. What you see causes your mouth to drop. The piece is stunning to say the least, although you think a better subject could have been used.

The painting is you pointing toward two stars; you assume the ones Cybertron orbits. You have a slightly confused look on your face, but there is a twinkle in your eyes. The fact that it's covered over in water color, makes the black used to outline you and the stars, stand out more, than if it had just been painted.

"I'm speechless." You say.

"Well don't get all emotional about it. Just popped into my processor when you were standing in the middle of the room making a fool of yourself." Sunstreaker answers, putting away the materials used to create the piece.

"Are you going to take me back to the main part of the Ark?" You ask, deciding to ignore the rude undertones to Sunstreaker's last comment.

"Yeah, give me a minute to clean up. I've got to go on duty in a little while anyway." Sunstreaker continues to put away materials. You watch, wondering what's going to happen to the picture of you and the stars.

Sunstreaker grunts, then walks out of the room. You can do nothing but follow. You notice Sunstreaker is a lot like Sideswipe, in the fact that there is no slowing down. You've got to run in order to keep up with the mad pace Sunstreaker is keeping.

After a few minutes, and you deciding it's time to start going to the gym, you make it back to an area you recognize. Sunstreaker stops and waits for you to catch up and points down the hallway.

"Ratchet's med bay is right over there." Sunstreaker turns to leave, then stops. You see two mechs you haven't seen before walking toward you, deep in conversation. They both have an amber sort of color on them, but the one is primarily green the other is completely amber.

Both stop talking, mid sentence, when they notice Sunstreaker glaring at them. The green one looks from Sunstreaker to you. "Can we help you Sunstreaker."

"No." Sunstreaker snaps, causing the Autobot to take a step back. Sunstreaker turns to you and says, "Grapple built that building you were drooling over." Then without another word, Sunstreaker takes off down the hall.

"I must say Hoist, that mech is quite strange." Grapple says to Hoist, then looks at you. "What building?"

"The one Sunstreaker had a gallery in. Said it was in Iacon?" You ask more than say, not sure what just happened.

"I remember that building. It was a work of art and when the young mech decided to open up an art studio in the lower level, I couldn't think of a better way to use the space." Grapple says wonderingly and staring into nowhere.

"So you design buildings?" You ask, wanting to take advantage of every conversation you can. You quickly change tapes and then look up expectantly.

"I do and I take pride in them all." Grapple says, proudly.

"What do you do Hoist?" You ask hoping you remember the name correctly.

"I'm a maintenance engineer. Everyone must operate at peak efficiency or they're a liability. There will be no liabilities while I'm on the job."

"That's a good philosophy." You laugh. "Can I ask you some questions?"

Both mechs look from each other then to you. Grapple then answers, "You'll have to come with us, Hoist here has agreed to help me fix the detention center."

"Sure, sounds like fun." You say.

"Just make sure to stay to the side of the room. The area we are going to is pretty unstable. If this were a human construction site, they would require you wear a hard hat." Hoist says. "You look a little tired, would you like a ride?"

Your eyes turn into a merry shade of amused as you laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, but that is one of the kindest offers anyone has ever given me. Do I really look that tired?"

Grapple nods, "I'm not surprised. Sunny is good at draining the energy right out of a mech."

"I don't think it was just Sunny, but I think I can walk. You'll just have to take it slow, I'm not twenty feet tall and have a stride of five or six feet."

"That is most certainly something we can do." Hoist laughs as the three of you head back down the hall.


	13. Construction

Construction

You are surprised that both Hoist and Grapple are willing to walk slowly for your sake, and even stop every now and then so you can catch up. Reminds you of parents, walking with their kids, who have just mastered walking on their own. You wait for either of them to try to pick you up and carry you, but it never comes. These two actually have respect.

"I'm sorry if I'm keeping either of you from something important." You say, feeling like a jerk for making them wait for you.

"Patience is a virtue that not everyone takes advantage of." Hoist says as if it's a proverb of some sort. You vaguely remember a proverb that sounds like that, but can't put your finger on it.

"I appreciate it. I've been picked up once today without my permission and it wasn't really the highlight of my day." You say laughing at the memory.

"Who picked you up?" Grapple asks, almost appalled.

"That fragging Red Alert." You say, causing both Autobots to stop in mid motion.

"That word is kind of déclassé for someone of your standing, don't you think?" Hoist asks.

"What word did I use?" You ask, trying to remember your last comment.

"Where did you learn the word frag?"

"I think Sunstreaker said it and I think I heard Sideswipe mumble it at some point and Bluestreak was babbling and it slipped out? What does it mean?" You ask, completely confused.

"Nearest translation is some four letter profane word that starts with an F." Grapple answers your question like it's a bad thing to talk about.

This starts you laughing. "Is it really? I had no idea." You manage to get out between laughs. "I'm sorry if it offended you."

"No offence taken, but don't use words like that in front of Carly. She'll kill you if Daniel starts to use Cybertronian vulgarities." Hoist says. "Let's change the subject. Red Alert picked you up without your permission."

"Yeah, Wheeljack blew up the lab and Red Alert wasn't too trusting of me at the point."

"So Red picks you up and hauls it to the lab." Grapple asks, now fully appalled.

"The only problem was I ended up getting sick on the floor. Not the best way to introduce yourself to someone."

"Speaking of Wheeljack." Hoist says, pointing to Wheeljack and someone you don't know, walking down the hall toward you.

"Wheeljack, Swoop, nice to see you as always." Hoist says, greeting the two who joined your little troupe.

"I assume you three are doing something productive." Wheeljack says looking at you.

"Because of you poor, Sideswipe and Bluestreak ended up getting reprimanded for some stupid prank." You say, a little coldly.

Wheeljack recoils fast. "Don't take it personally, you don't know Sideswipe like we do and it's better to be safe than sorry. Some of Sideswipes little pranks have caused injuries."

Now you feel like an ass, not just because of your cold attitude, but because of being uneducated on the subject. "Have they really caused injuries?" You ask softly.

"Almost equal to the times I've accidentally blown up a room." Wheeljack's light panels flicker in amusement. "Don't worry about it. That's why you're here, to learn about us."

"We're going to fix the detention center and introduce our young investigator to the construction techniques that made me famous on Cybertron." Grapple says with an air of importance.

"Why don't you take Swoop with you in case of injury?" Wheeljack says, indicating Swoop, who up to this point has been silent.

Swoop squawks in agreement. "You take Swoop." The voice and speaking startle you, causing Wheeljack to laugh. "Why you Wheeljack laugh at Swoop."

"No Swoop, I'm not laughing at you." Wheeljack pats Swoop on the back in a friendly manner. You watch the two with burning interest. First off, the being, Swoop, seems to be speaking like a child. Secondly, Wheeljack seems to be 'taking care' of Swoop.

Swoop looks over at Wheeljack for a moment and then nods. "You Wheeljack good to Swoop. You not make fun of Swoop."

"Nah buddy, I'm not going to make fun of you."

"Sorry for causing that." You say, still staring at Swoop. "What exactly is your alternate form Swoop?"

Swoop verily jumps at the chance to answer a question and being addressed. "Me Swoop Pteranodon."

"Really! That is so awesome." You say, making Swoop even happier. The phrase that Sunstreaker used a little while ago pops into head as you realize what was meant by Dinobots.

"Are you okay with taking Swoop with you, just to keep an eye on things if something goes wrong?" Wheeljack addresses both Hoist and Grapple. "The detention center is quite a ways away from the main part of the Ark."

"How about it Swoop old buddy?" Hoist asks. "Want to come help us fix a few beams in case we get prisoners sometime soon?"

Swoop seems to get excited about this and the excitement in the room becomes so thick you can cut it with a knife. "Swoop is on the case." Comes a merry chirp. The merriment is contagious and a big grin plasters itself on your face.

"Swoop, I'm counting on you to keep everyone in line down there." Wheeljack tells Swoop seriously. You can tell Wheeljack and Swoop have a parent/child relationship and you make a mental note to ask about that later.

"Me Swoop right one for the job." Swoop answers with the same serious tone.

"How about you lead the way Swoop?" Grapple asks. Swoop nods and starts walking down the hallway.

Wheeljack leans down to your level as Hoist and Grapple head after Swoop. "Keep an eye on Swoop for me. The mech is like a child to me." You look at Wheeljack and smile. Wheeljack takes that to mean yes, does the whole winking thing and heads off in the opposite direction.

You gaze after Wheeljack for a moment, thinking that you have found a kindred spirit in the mech. Then you take off after the three who have managed to get quite a ways from you.

You see the three round a corner and for a moment think that you are going to get left behind, but within moments, there is a loud screech and what you assume is Swoop in dinosaur mode, comes barreling down the hall after you. Swoop picks you up with two feet and flies down the hallway.

It takes a moment for you to gain your perspective, you are flying. Not quite like Superman, although you've always wanted to try that, but more like when you went hang gliding on a dare while you were a freshman in college.

You and Swoop fly past Hoist and Grapple, you wave behind you as Swoop continues on down the hall.

"Swoop, stop!" You hear Hoist shout just before taking another corner. Swoop obediently lets you down and then transforms mid flight. Grapple and Hoist run forward, worried looks in both sets of eyes.

"You okay?" Grapple asks, getting down on a knee to see your face. This time instead of it being white, it's red from excitement.

"That was totally wicked." You say, laughing. "Thank you Swoop, next time ask though, okay." Swoop nods a head in acknowledgment.

"Well, you don't look like you're going to be sick, so why don't we continue and you can ask us the questions you wanted to ask?" Grapple says, urging the you and the Autobots on, so the job gets done in a timely manner.

"Okay," You say, winded. Then you think. You know very little about construction, except how to weave straw and grass together to make a hut. "Sunstreaker said you built the building, the art gallery was in, right."

"Affirmative."

"How did you come up with the idea, I've never seen anything like that on Earth. What was it made of?"

"That specific building was made of a transparent metallic substance. I think it's similar to a mixture of your iron, vanadium and tellurium. At least those are the metals found on this planet. The compound that makes it transparent, is a gaseous substance found only at the event horizon of a star gone super nova. You'd have to ask Perceptor more about that, good at metallurgy, that one. The elements are heated to over 2000 degrees centigrade, then cooled by taking them into space. The lack of oxygen causes the substance to be limber and you can mold it into pretty much anything. In the case of Sunny's building, window type panes."

"Okay, so I passed basic chemistry. However after setting the lab on fire, I wasn't allowed to take any further, so that was a little over my head." You admit.

"That was a little over everyone's head Grapple, where'd you learn that?" Hoist asks, astonished.

"That building was one of my favorites. I actually went and asked Perceptor about the building materials for that one. I only want the best in my buildings, so I make sure only the best is used." Grapple says proudly.

"So, taking the making of building materials out, how did you come up with the design? There was a sphere at the top of that building and the bottom almost looked like an upside down Y shape, with a walkway connecting the two sides?"

"You spent some time with Sunstreaker learning about art, right?" Grapple begins. You nod. "Well to me, creating a structure is like art. I try to make my designs different than the average mech. I don't want to create some cookie cutter style building, when I can create a masterpiece. I could make an outhouse look like a masterpiece." Grapple says with a hint of arrogance.

"That I would have to see." You smile. You and the group round one more corner and walk into what you assume is the detention center. There is some slight damage to the beams on the left side, but the room makes you feel like you stepped into Alcatraz.

"Okay, this place is a little creepy." You say looking around.

"No one really likes it down here, but in the event we get a prisoner, we need to have the place look presentable." Hoist says, moving off to one side and picking up one of the beams, which will be used to brace up the caving part of the room.

You stand back and just take note of how Hoist and Grapple work together and include Swoop in the process. Swoop reminds you of your little cousin, so eager to help and to please.

That fact that Swoop is a good deal taller than the others also helps. Grapple directs the other two in making the beams perpendicular to the floor and then slowly wedging them into place. You notice how calm and cool Grapple is and can immediately see how construction of Sunstreaker's building was accomplished.

"Swoop, could you hold this beam between the walls, so I can weld it to the ceiling?" Grapple asks, and Swoop is only too happy to oblige.

The tall mech picks up the beam and wedges it into place between the two beams the trio just welded to the wall. Then Swoop calmly holds the beam in place while Grapple starts on one side and welds it to the other two beams, then to the ceiling.

This little process continues and soon the room looks a lot more stable and you look all the more intrigued.

"I'll bet folks just couldn't wait to serve under you, could they?" You ask when the room is complete. Grapple and Hoist come and sit against the wall, on either side of you.

"You could call me a foreman, but that description doesn't quite fit. We all work together and we are all considered equal. I've seen the pay differences between the foreman and the workers, and the designer even, so don't tell me they are all equal, because the amount of schooling makes them unequal."

"Grapple, say it in a way we can all understand." Hoist says, seeing your curious look.

"What I mean to say, is all of us go to the same center to learn our art. All of us take the same classes. All of us could be the foreman, or the workers. We all have the same schooling, so there is no class differential, as you will."

"Okay, so taking out the fact that all United States citizens, and many other Earth citizens, are considered equal, you, who work in construction truly are because you actually get the same education, it doesn't matter if you have money, or intelligence, you are all taught the same thing?"

Grapple smiles and nods, "That assumption is correct and I am glad I was able to help contribute to your input search."

"I really like the whole, 'everybody gets the same schooling' thing, you all have going on. A lot of places on Earth will only let people get an education if they're really smart, or if they have the money, and some have neither, so they kind of get left behind."

"I will admit, your race is millennia away from that type of thinking, that is if you live that long." Grapple says.

"You didn't sugar coat that at all, did you Grapple?" Hoist asks.

"No need with this one." Grapple indicates you, causing you to smile at the compliment. "Now Hoist, I believe our next assignment is in Ratchet's lab." Grapple says, standing up.

"Can you drop me off by the front of the Ark?" You ask. You can feel your stomach rumbling and want to get something from the cooler in Carly's car.

"We are going back through the hallway, but there is a way out of the mountain just through there, Swoop, why don't you take our young friend to the front of the Ark." Hoist says, also standing up.

Swoop squawks in agreement and transforms. "Me, Swoop, pick you up?"

"Yes, Swoop, you can pick me up." You smile and wave at Hoist and Grapple as Swoop grabs you and flies through the lower part of the Ark.

It only takes a minute, then the two of you are outside. Swoop continues flying upward, until it's almost hard for you to breathe. It takes a moment, but the two of you taper off and Swoop circles in the sky.

"Swoop likes flying." Swoop says, looking down at you.

"I can tell." For a moment you close your eyes, to get rid of the feet between you and the ground, then you open your eyes. You put your arms out to your side and for a moment you are flying, not being flown.

"Swoop sees Perceptor." Swoop decides at that moment to dive bomb the unsuspecting Autobot, almost forgetting you are going for the ride. You shriek, as your speed gets faster during the descent.

Finally, only a few feet from the frightened mech on the ground, Swoop scoops out of the dive and tapers off. Then turns back around and all but drops you at Perceptor's feet. Swoop, then takes off into the sky again.

For a few shaky minutes, the two of you regard one another. Perceptor is holding a crate filled with flowering plants in one hand. You shake your head and stand up.

"Great America's got nothing on that." You say, pointing up toward the sky.

"I don't know who Great America is, but Swoop has a thing for dive bombing mechs."

"I can tell." You walk over to the car and get out a soda and a package of crackers, hoping to keep the food down. "How are you doing today Perceptor?" You ask after you sip the fluid.

"I am quite well, thank you, you?" Perceptor says, coming to your side.

"I need some down time. Can I come with you and watch, or help, with whatever you are learning about. I think I need some peace." You say, eating a cracker.

"It would be a pleasure." Perceptor says, turning toward the Ark.

"Great, what are you working on?" You ask. The answer makes you regret even asking.

"The pleasure that is stimulated during reproduction."


	14. Reproduction

Reproduction

You halt your movement and stare at Perceptor for a moment. Perceptor seems to notice your stopping and turns to look at you. The look on your face would say a lot to a human, but Perceptor doesn't seem to understand.

"Is something the matter?" Perceptor asks curiously.

"You are studying the pleasures that are stimulated from sex?"

"Sex is the act that occurs for reproduction to take place, so yes?"

"Uh, why?" You ask, completely dumfound.

"You don't find that to be of interest to humans?"

This causes you to laugh. "Oh, the pleasure that occurs is something that all humans are intrigued by, but why do you want to know?"

"Because we do not feel it." Is the matter-of-fact response.

This revelation hits you and you realize, sex is marketed, so no wonder someone who can't feel it would be interested in the subject. Then you look at the box of flowers. "Are those your test subjects?" The two of you continue your trip back to Perceptor's lab.

"These are Begoniaceae or Begonias. I want to study their pleasure responses to reproduction."

"I don't think they're going to help you." You say, trying to remember this isn't common knowledge for the Cybertronians.

"Why not?" Perceptor looks from the box to you.

"Well I'm not sure a flower feels the same way we humans do about reproduction and if they did, we don't speak a language they can understand."

Perceptor ponders this for a moment while walking. "Okay, so I've done small mammals, they didn't seem to have the same type of pleasure I see in those movies, Rewind watches."

"Do I want to even ask?"

"Something called adult entertainment. Rewind was given a box of movies from Spike and the movie happened to be in the box. So along with Sunstreaker and Sides, Rewind watched the movie. Parts of it ended up on various computer screens. The humans looked to be enjoying it, so I became curious."

The expression on your face blossoms out into an all out cackle. You crack up so much it hurts. "You were watching porn? That is way too much!"

"That is not something you use as a tool to teach, it does seem rather educational?"

"The movie you watched is considered almost taboo in some societies, but it has a rating on it that's too high for younger people to watch." You say, wiping tears from your eyes, and blocking the mental thought of Perceptor hunkered over a computer and watching the movie.

"Well the rabbits I used had a response, but I don't think it was the same response as the people in that video." Perceptor stopped and entered a code into a key pad. The door opens up into Perceptor's lab.

You walk in and look around. The place is sparse, but there are quite a few books and charts. You see the cage of rabbits over in the corner. There are at least 25. You also see a microscope that is projecting an image onto the wall. The slide is showing cells, that are in the process of reproducing.

"You might want to separate those rabbits, or they'll continue to multiply." You say, taking in the lab.

Perceptor puts the box of flowers on the table and walks over to the cage. "Why?"

"Rabbits tend to breed rather quickly and if they aren't in a controlled environment, they'll populate too quickly." You think of the Tribbles on 'Star Trek'.

"I may just let them go. Especially if I'm not going to get the information out of them that I want." Perceptor says, then walks back to the flowers. Carefully, the flowers are being placed on the table, in color groups. You watch as Perceptor takes great care in dealing with the flowers. Reminds you of the nurses in the neonatal unit at the hospital.

When the flowers are separated, Perceptor then places them in rows, the ones with the most blossoms toward the back and the ones with the least in the front. You laugh quietly, thinking of someone with OCD, like Melvin Udall on 'As Good as it Get's'.

"Well if you don't think I can learn from these, then maybe I should give them back to the nursery." Perceptor says, pondering what to do with the flowers.

"You can learn from them, just not what you're studying right now. Why don't you keep them and use them at a later time?" You suggest, thinking Perceptor would probably find something to use them for when this insatiable curiosity about sexual pleasure passes.

"Right you are." Perceptor claps you on the back, sending you reeling forward and catching yourself on the table. "Sorry. Forget my own strength at times around humans." Perceptor walks over to a botanical light and brings it over to the flowers. Within moments the soft hum of the light is heard throughout the room.

"Hey, you're human, why don't you tell me about the pleasures induced during sex." Perceptor asks.

For a moment you think your face must have gone seven shades of red at the request. Then you remember that an alien species might not know that some consider this topic to be taboo. Even though your face went red, this subject isn't taboo with you.

"Well, I'm not sure how to answer that question." You say, trying to see if there was even a basis of comparison someone had mentioned on your day of learning. You are unable to recall such a topic. "That's kind of something that is different per person, I guess. It's not really something that can be put into words."

Perceptor walks over to a computer and turns on a camera. "I hope you don't mind my recording your answers."

This prompts you to think and you make sure there are enough tapes in your bag. "I don't mind, as long as I get to record our conversations. I've already learned about your reproduction, I just assume since you're asking, there isn't some sort of pleasurable thing that you can do with one another." You dig in your bag, looking for more tapes.

"Not true, it has been told to be extremely pleasurable to be bonded to a person, almost like finding a missing piece of yourself." Perceptor answers you.

"You'll have to give me more information on that." You say, still digging through your bag.

"I do not have the knowledge to give you an accurate answer to your question, I am not bonded with someone." Perceptor says, coming to stand over you and watch you dig around.

"Does anyone on the Ark have a bond with someone else?"

"That isn't something that is usually talked about. Many of the younger Autobots haven't had a chance, the older ones don't usually want to discuss it."

"That's okay, I'm sure if I have an opportunity, someone might tell me." You get frustrated and decide to dump your bag over. Out falls a couple dozen tapes, some granola bars, various pens and a couple of things you weren't expecting.

You pick up the unknown about items and look at them. "What are you looking at?" Perceptor asks.

You don't answer the question, just try to remember who used your bag last. Then it dawns on you. Of course, your brother used the bag. No wonder there was a box of condoms and lubricant. This'll teach you to run out of the house without looking through your bag.

"I'm a little embarrassed here. I left in such a hurry, I didn't check my bag before leaving." You say. Perceptor seems to be more curious about your possessions than the fact that they are slightly embarrassing.

"Why are you embarrassed?" Perceptor leans down and grabs the tube from your hand. "What is 'lubricant' for?"

"Well," Then you stop. You remember a phrase one of your college professors said at the beginning of class. Most people are kinesthetic learners, not auditory or visual. Sure people can learn just by listening or seeing, but what better way to teach someone than by physically showing them.

You look up at Perceptor and try to see if this mech would find it inappropriate for you to suggest a scientific experiment, like the one the college you went to had. The memory of Hound telling you about the water from the planet Traal and its ability to take away the physical shell and reshape the soul into something else.

You ponder that for such a long time, Perceptor starts to get worried. "Are you okay?"

"I am, but I was wondering how much you would do in the name of science?" You ask, eyes wide.

"Well as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, anything or myself, I would do anything for discovery." Perceptor answers, not quite understanding your meaning.

"When I was in college there was a study done, a sexual study. You had to be completely unemotional about the whole study, since emotions and sex generally go hand in hand, even for people who don't think there are emotions involved."

"Did you participate in the study?" Perceptor asks, curiosity taking over.

"No, I was sixteen, but a dorm mate did. Basically the study was to check the brain waves on people who are given or giving sexual pleasure. They were to get together with people of the same and opposite gender and basically do what those people in the porn video you watched do."

Perceptor looks at you for a minute. Then walks over to a shelf and takes down a canister. Then walks over to a tank of some sort and fills the canister with the liquid in the tank.

"I see where you're going with this line of questioning." Perceptor says, after filling the tank. You watch as the tank converts the water into vapor. "You want me to use the Traalian liquid and change myself into a human. Then you want to teach me what the responses are?"

It takes a moment for it to sink in that Perceptor actually will be willing to do this as a scientific experiment. You nod and Perceptor takes that to mean that you too are willing to help in the learning process.

Perceptor looks at you and then at the canister. "Should I be a human female or a male?"

Jokingly you reply, "Well if you want the whole experience, then you've got to be both male and female, so you'll have to be one first, than the other second. Oh, and remember to break the hymen or it could be painful."

"Good idea." Perceptor goes to the books and grabs one off the shelf. Then reads a couple of pages rather quickly. It doesn't take long for Perceptor to use the spray, then look at herself in a mirror. "Is this okay?" She asks.

You are speechless. Standing before you is a girl, about your height. She is completely naked from head to toe. For a moment you can't even move.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asks you.

"Just give me a moment for this to all sink in?" You say, unable to take your eyes off of what you just saw. It took only a few seconds, but where Perceptor had been standing, a full twenty feet tall, now stands a human girl.

So lost in all that is happening, and due to your lack of sleep, the next twenty minutes pass in a blur of, almost, nonexistent learning. You feel as if you are on pain medication that alters the senses, blocking out all that happened between you and the very receptive Perceptor, in both male and female form.

By the time the lesson is finished, you are hardly aware time has passed at all. Perceptor looks at you quizzically, in the nude male form.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm not sure, let me get back to you on that. I'll have to send you some literature to explain all that just happened."

You and Perceptor stand up and you quickly dress. Perceptor changes back into normal form.

"Well I can honestly say I've never done anything like that in my life. It was a pretty eye opening experience." You say, packing all of your stuff back into your bag.

"I look forward to getting the literature you said you'd send me." Perceptor says, heading over to the computer and removing the lock.

"I think it'll be more than one book and I'm sure they'll explain a lot." You look at your watch and realize it's close to 4:00. "My how the day has flown." You say. "I didn't really learn anything that I can put into a paper from you, but it was a learning experience none the less." You say, heading toward the door.

Perceptor looks at you with mild curiosity. "Thank you for putting your research on hold for me. I doubt most of my comrades would be as gracious."

"I think you underestimate some of them." You smile and walk out the door, pushing all thoughts about what you just did out of your head, after all, it was for science.

You walk down the hallway, toward where you think the lounge is. It doesn't take you long to get lost again. Slowly you turn around, hoping to hear noise that would indicate someone moving. You hear nothing, so decide to continue on.

After a few minutes more of silence, you hear movement behind you. You spin around and get a wide grin on your face. Wheeljack is walking toward you, a merry blue color blinking from the lights.

"Now don't tell me you got lost? Swoop said you were with Perceptor." Wheeljack says, getting down on a knee.

"I was, but there's a lot to do in the few hours I've got left. My plane leaves in six hours and I need to be back at the airport an hour before the flight leaves, so that gives me three more hours." You say, indicating your watch.

"Well what is your plan now?" Wheeljack asks, still from a crouching position.

"I didn't come with a plan. I'm just winging it, as they say."

"Well how about you come with me and we can check out my new suspension. I'm hoping it lets me jump farther in Lancia mode without breaking my undercarriage. I also installed some nitrous oxide into my energon line, hoping it will make me drive faster."

"Sounds like fun." You say. Wheeljack stands up straight and the two of you head toward the front of the Ark. "What exactly are you?" You ask. "I mean, your function, I guess."

Wheeljack transforms into alternate mode and opens a door. "I'm a mechanical engineer, or in other words an inventor."


	15. Inventions

Inventions

"Is that why your lab exploded earlier?" You ask, getting inside.

"Depending on who you talk to, yes. I tend to be my own worst enemy." Wheeljack laughs and drives away from the Ark.

"What do you mean, your own worst enemy?" You ask, watching the speedometer pass by 75 mph.

"Carly once compared me to a character on a show called MacGyver." You laugh, remembering watching that show and wanting to be like Richard Dean Anderson as a kid. "The only problem is, I get so caught up in what I'm doing, I have, on occasion, caused whatever I'm working on to disable itself, as it were."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you keep from killing anyone, I don't think there's any harm in experimenting." You say, yawning as the day starts to catch up to you.

"You okay in there?" Wheeljack asks. Immediately you remember Bluestreak telling you how much Wheeljack cares about everyone and you start to feel safe.

"Just a little tired. I've been up all night and the scientific research Perceptor and I did kind of took it out of me." You say, hoping Wheeljack doesn't ask for specifics.

"You should probably refrain from falling asleep, because I'm going to start testing out my additions." Wheeljack says, speeding up even faster.

"Just as long as the nitrous oxide doesn't make me laugh like an idiot." You say, remembering the time you accidentally set off the stuff at the dentist and caused everyone to go into a state of euphoria. "Oh, and don't kill us either. The only thing I've seen your inventions do is blow up your lab."

Wheeljack laughs, causing the interior to shake. "You've been hanging out with Sideswipe to be that much of a smart ass."

"It's amazing how quickly you all have rubbed off on me." You watch as Wheeljack turns and heads straight for a mole hill. The speed increases. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to jump that incline and see how the landing works." Wheeljack answers as if it was common knowledge.

For a moment the only thing you can think about is the memory of Wheeljack coming out from the billowing smoke of the lab like Batman. This causes you to shudder.

"I promise I wouldn't have invited you along if it wasn't safe. Don't you trust me?" Wheeljack asks slightly hurt.

"I trust you enough, but Aladdin said that to Princess Jasmine and it turned out he was lying to her." You say, watching the hill come closer.

"I'm not Aladdin." Wheeljack states and hits the nitrous oxide, causing the speeds to jump from 120 to 180 in seconds. "Brace yourself." Comes a warning.

You hold your breath and within seconds the two of you have hit the slope and are now flying into the air. Wheeljack whoops at the sensation and the two of you start your descent. You watch as the Earth comes toward you, time seems to slow down.

You grab hold of the steering wheel, your knuckles turning a brilliant shade of white from the pressure you are exhibiting. Then as the front wheels hit, time seems to speed up and Wheeljack starts to spin 360's in the dirt, shouting and laughing.

"That was great!" Wheeljack says, stopping and opening the door. You step out and collapse to the ground, not completely with your bearings yet. "You okay?" Wheeljack laughs, kneeling over you as you watch the sky spin.

"I feel like I've just gotten off an amusement park ride." You smile up at the mech and laugh.

"Hope that was worth it." Wheeljack decides to flop down next to you.

"That was wicked cool."

"You'll have to come back when I test out my other inventions. Maybe seeing you not scared will have a positive effect on some of my comrades." Wheeljack says, a hint of sadness showing.

"The others don't trust you at times I take it." You say looking over at Wheeljack, who is looking at the sky.

"Oh no, they trust me, of course it's usually to destroy something. Some mechs, myself included, can't seem to figure out how I can turn something that should be harmless into something the Decepticons would level cities for."

"So no one else wanted to help you with your test?"

"I've gotten to the point where I don't bother asking. The mechs who would help are usually a lot busier than they let on."

"Well," you huff. "I thought it was fun and one day maybe the two of us will go into business together and create a theme park, that'll blow the socks off of people."

"That could be interesting." Wheeljack says, ears flashing a multitude of colors. You make a mental note to ask why there are so many different colors.

"There must be some invention of yours that went off without a hitch?" You say.

"Well I've had many inventions that came out alright, look at Swoop."

This causes you to sit up, fast. "You're Swoop's creator, like a parent?"

"I guess you could look at it like that." Wheeljack sits up and faces you, almost waiting for you to ask questions.

"How many did you create, I mean how many Autobots are you creator to?"

"Here on Earth or all together?" Wheeljack asks.

"This is kind of sad." You say, imagining Wheeljack as the primary care giver of a young being. "Here on Earth, parents tend to be attached to their creations, not all the time, but in some cases, like my parents. I just realized that you are a parent and you don't get to be with that child."

Wheeljack looks at you with kind eyes, lights flashing, almost like thinking to oneself. "If you were to compare our society to any one on Earth, we would live by the rule that it takes a village to raise a child. I may have been the creator, but the entire village raised my creations, guided them and made them productive members of society."

The book K-PAX pops into your head as you remember the character prot, saying the same thing to Dr. Brewer. "Was it the same with you?"

"When my creator created me I was sent off to learn about mechanical engineering. My form was built in a way my creator saw as beneficial to what I was to become. In a sense, my creator was a recluse, so I was built with the thought that I wouldn't be going outside of the lab very often. I could have a life, but I was meant to create things."

"That why you wear that mask thing?" You ask. Your gaze goes over to Wheeljack who is looking intently at you.

"This isn't a mask."

"Then why has almost everyone else I've seen have a mouth, like a human does?"

Wheeljack sits up and turns to face you. You decide to follow. "My creator, the one who created my body, didn't see a reason for giving me a mouth. Guess it wasn't practical. Before the war broke out, I was working in a lab with a bunch of other mechs, but before there were only four of us. None of the other three are alive right now. We all had a system, like the lights that adorn my face. We used these as communication devices so we didn't have to make sounds when working on whatever it was we were working on. Almost like your Morse Code."

You are at this point highly intrigued. You change your tape quickly and look back up at Wheeljack. "Can you show me? I don't really know Morse Code at all, but I do know some basics."

You watch as Wheeljack flashes, in the color red "short short short, long long long, short short short".

"That was SOS." You smile. "Does the color mean anything?"

"It used to, but now that I'm the only one left, it just happens to be what mood I'm in. Red is for distress on this planet, I believe?" This is more of a question than a statement.

"That's right. But what about the other colors. I've seen blue, purple, an almost indigo color."

"Well blue generally means I'm in good spirits. Purple tends to be when I'm deep in thought, probably shouldn't bother me. Indigo…" Wheeljack pauses for a moment at that color. "Indigo I'd rather not talk about. Various warm colors, as they are called, tend to mean I'm angry, frustrated or in the case of yellow overwhelmed. Green generally means I'm in recharge and doing what you humans call dreaming."

"That I'd like to see, I like the color green." You say then quickly add. "Purely for research."

Wheeljack laughs heartily. "Any time you have questions, you just come and see me."

For a fraction of a second you wonder if that's some sort of invite, but you put it out of your mind as further questions pop into your mind. "So you were made to be practical for a lab environment. It's good to be quiet I guess, though I don't see you being too quiet now."

"We can adapt you know, we don't have to just follow our core processing. Look at Sunstreaker. Mech was created with a flare for the arts." You nod, remembering that picture of you that was still in the gallery. "Because of adaptability, Sunny is now an adept fighter, one of the best and rather fearless when running into danger."

"But you invented Swoop. What was the reason for picking a dinosaur? I can understand the automobiles and the planes, but dinosaurs?"

Wheeljack sits for a moment, lights flashing purple. "Remember that we are not automobiles, we are mechanical beings. Our personalities are what make us, not our shells." You silently scold yourself, remembering that you had already known that. "As for the Dinobots, they were created because of strength."

"I can see dinosaurs being strong, but why does Swoop talk like a four year old?"

"Spike informed us that dinosaurs weren't very smart."

"Well how the hell does he know that, was he there?" You snap, then recoil realizing that the question came out harsher than it should have. "Sorry, but as we weren't with the dinosaurs, how can we make assumptions." You lower your head, realizing how insane you must sound.

"Point taken, but keep in mind, we also wanted to be able to control them and as it had been years since we had created anything, and we were on an alien planet," Wheeljack's lights became a bright blue color. "We did the best that we could. All five of them might talk like they're about five years of age, but don't let that fool ya. They know what they're doing."

"Are they the only five you created here on Earth?" You ask, wanting to get deeper into the mind of someone who was able to create the being who took you flying.

"Well I didn't do it on my own, Ratchet helped, but we also created a group called the Aerialbots and the Protectobots."

"Let me guess," you say excitedly. "The Aerialbots fly and the Protectobots offer protection?"

"Right, you are." Wheeljack laughs at your eagerness to learn, a blatant reminder that even though you are getting your Doctorate, you are still a kid. "The Aerialbots were created because Megatron had a monopoly over the skies and it was important that we be able to counter attack."

"So they all fly and you created them all, how many are there?"

"There are five in the Aerialbot squadron." You add the numbers up in your head. So far Wheeljack is a parental unit to ten different life forms. "The Protectobots actually live in the city and are just like a police or fire squadron. They do their best to help people out, doesn't matter what people." Wheeljack chuckles slightly.

"What's so funny?"

Wheeljack continues to chuckle, his lights blinking merrily. "I had gone out to do a routine checkup on the group and I saw First Aid working on a broken bicycle, talking to it like it was one of us. That mech cares for everything, including rocks, if you can imagine."

"I think we could use a few more First Aids in the world." You reply, seriousness in your voice, but eyes laughing right along with Wheeljack. "How many Protectobots are there?"

"There are five of them also, and they all combine with each other to create a large gestalt."

You look at Wheeljack quizzically, trying to remember if you'd ever heard the word. "How do you mean gestalt?"

Then Wheeljack does something that takes you totally by surprise. Grabbing a few loose debris that litter the ground, Wheeljack lays them out in front of you. "Say this rock is an Autobot, along with these twigs and these leaves. We take this rock and make it a head and body, these twigs make the feet and these leaves and make them the arms."

"So they combine into a bigger robot, what for?"

"Power would be the best explanation. None of them are too smart, and the Dinobots are unable to combine, but they are more for brute strength in their combined forms than their intelligence." Wheeljack takes the manipulatives and tosses them back to the chaos they came from.

You count up again and have fifteen. Wheeljack has created fifteen beings. "How about before coming here, how many did you create before you left Cybertron?"

"It's hard to remember really. When the war started, I was creating bodies left and right. I don't know how many of them were actually given sparks."

"Doesn't that make you sad, to know that you may have created something that didn't amount to anything?"

Wheeljack laughs again. "You're preaching to the choir now. I've created things that never made it past the planning stages and then there are the ones that seem to think they belong strewn around the room. When you've lived as long as I have, you learn something; it's not about what you create that doesn't work, it's about what you create that does."

"So even though you have this reputation for destroying things, you don't care, because you've helped create fifteen beings that make a difference?"

You look in awe at the being in front of you, such intelligence and well meaning. For the first time today, you wish you didn't have to leave, you want to learn more intimate details about these beings, whom you've just barely scratched the surface of their existence.

"You look a million miles away, are you still with me?" Wheeljack asks, lying back down, indicating that this conversation is meaningful.

"I have so little knowledge about you and your people. I have only my basis for comparison and seeing your way of life is beginning to sink in enough so I can understand it."

"Little word of advice for ya kid. Don't compare what you're learning to what you know, just learn it. When you've gotten all the information you know and feel as if you were meant to belong to that culture, then compare it to what you know. Keeps the mind open."

Again you are almost at a loss for words. It's almost like talking to Yoda at times with this one. Wheeljack doesn't just have knowledge, there is also intelligence there. Something that doesn't seem to go hand in hand with people.

You decide to lie back on the ground too, almost from pure exhaustion, realizing that even though this was a good idea, going as fast as you did probably wasn't. In other words; you need a nap.

You decide to press Wheeljack, who seems perfectly content to answer your questions, more about the job on Cybertron.

"What did you create on Cybertron? Or what was the one thing you are proudest of creating?" You ask, hoping Wheeljack can explain it in terms you can understand.

Wheeljack is silent for a moment, contemplating the question. "The first invention I came up with, wouldn't have won any awards, but as it was my first and it didn't destroy itself, I'm pretty proud of it."

Wheeljack pauses as if reminiscing, then continues. "I wasn't very old at the time, though there really isn't a comparison I can give you, since age for us is quite a bit different than you, but I had been working on a toy. That was all, just a toy. Something to keep me occupied when I was alone. You could compare it to the remote control cars on this planet."

"It was a transport vessel, not unlike the ones we use when transporting goods back and forth between Cybertron and the moons."

"Now that would be something." You interject. "Getting to visit our moon." You look over at Wheeljack who is watching you curiously. "Sorry for interrupting." You say, looking away so Wheeljack will continue.

"That was pretty much my childhood." Wheeljack says slowly, watching your body language. You look almost sad at this memory of Wheeljack's. "You okay?"

"I just didn't have much of a childhood; it was always, do this class and take this lesson. The happiest times I remember were when I was sitting in front of the television watching cartoons or kid shows, but that was because it was the only time I could be a kid. Guess I get a little jealous when I hear about others' childhoods. I wish I had one." You steal a glance in Wheeljack's direction and see the mech still looking at you. "Sorry, enough about my sad sob existence, tell me more about your inventions."

Wheeljack makes ready to continue speaking, but stops and almost listens to something for a moment.

"Can't do that right now, Prime has returned and requested to meet with you." Wheeljack stands up and transforms before you can even sit up.

"What, why?!" You ask in an almost alarmed voice.

Wheeljack laughs. "Don't worry about it, Prime just wants to see you and talk with you, it's normal for visiting dignitaries to speak with Prime."

You stand up and get in, secretly flattered at being referred to as a visiting dignitary. "How did you know Prime had returned?"

Wheeljack starts speeding back to the Ark. "That's a little gizmo a friend and I came up with. It's similar to those cell phones you use, but it's inside of the mech's CPU. Works like a walky-talky and we can communicate with it. Became a life saver when the war started. We had originally invented it because it made it easier to speak almost telepathically when we needed something in another room and we could put out a cattle call to anyone in that vicinity."

"Nice, where can I get one?" You ask factiously.

Wheeljack seems to actually ponder the question, making you mentally laugh. "I don't know that it could be adapted to work with a biological brain, but that's a great question. Have to remember that and see if something could be made." Then Wheeljack seems to get onto a tangent and starts speaking out loud to no one. "Ratchet has the cadaver in his med lab, maybe I could…"

You lean back in the seat, perfectly content to listen to Wheeljack ramble on and close your eyes. This day has turned out differently than you expected. You hope it only gets better.

It seems to only take a few moments to get back to the Ark. Wheeljack actually let you fall asleep, so the ten minute drive seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. This of course has made you feel even more tired and sick along with it. You open your eyes from inside of Wheeljack and look up at the beings that are watching you.

You recognize both Prowl and Red Alert, the latter of whom is fidgeting nervously. The other two you don't recognize. For a moment you don't want to get out, since the four of them, framed by the mountain and the sun setting in the distance creates an ominous feeling.

"Ya can't stay in there all day. I've gotta get back to the lab and remove the nitrous oxide intakes from my internals." Wheeljack says, urging you to get out. "Besides, they won't hurt you."

"Not afraid of being hurt, just nervous about meeting so many people at once, especially the big wig." You say, reaching for the door. Of course it pops open on its own and you slowly slide out. Within a second Wheeljack has transformed and is standing next to you.

The blue and red one looks at you and seems to dwarf the others by quite a few feet. The being regards you silently for a few moments, you take in a breath and hold it.

"Have you been enjoying your journey?" The voice that asks startles you. Not because it's harsh, but because it's warm and kind.

"It's been interesting, thank you." You say, feeling a little bit more at ease.

"I would very much like to speak with you and must apologize for my absence earlier. I am normally here to meet people first off."

You deduce this one must be Optimus. "It's okay Optimus, Prowl here took care of me."

Optimus chuckles, "I'm sure." For a brief moment Optimus looks at Prowl and then at the other three. You assume they are communicating using internal communication like Wheeljack told you about. Then Prime kneels and puts a large hand out.

Not knowing what to do, you look at Wheeljack. "Prime's offering you a ride." Wheeljack says to you.

"Oh," This startles you. "I can walk, you don't have to carry me." You stammer, hoping this doesn't offend anyone.

"We will not be heading in immediately and as the sun is going down, I would feel more comfortable if I had you in hand if the Decepticons try anything." Prime answers in a reassuring voice.

This worries you. You didn't fly all this way to get into their war. "Shouldn't we go inside then?"

"I would rather walk around out here for a while. Don't worry, I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe."

Still a little uncertain, you climb into the massive hand and sit down. Then, as your stomach leaves your insides, you are quickly brought up over fifteen feet in the air. You eye Wheeljack, who seems to enjoy winking, and nod. Prime moves off from the group and you see the others head inside.

For a few uncomfortable minutes, there is nothing but silence. Finally, to break up the monotony in the air you ask, "You don't much like the Decepticons, do you?"

Prime looks at you for a moment and sighs. "I don't dislike them, just what they do and what they stand for."


	16. Acceptance

Acceptance

You and Prime stare at the darkening sky quietly as you try to find a response to the last answer. Then you decide to just blurt out your next question. "So you don't hate the people who are doing this to you, how can you not hate them?"

Prime does the equivalent of a Cybertronian breath then looks at you. "I cannot make someone change their ways and I respect that not everyone is going to agree with my thoughts. I have come to accept the people, but I don't accept their actions.

"So you just accept the Decepticons, and the others in your team? You have no issue with any of them, personally?"

"It has taken me many years to be able to accept those within my ranks. Each different personality clashes with others, no matter how agreeable the mech is. Every single one of the crew has been dealing with this for far too long."

"How do you do it?" You ask, hoping you don't sound too needy in your asking. "I mean, how do you deal with all those personalities. I asked Prowl earlier."

Prime laughs for a moment. "That must have been a very logical answer." You try to think back to what Prowl said. "I don't know if the matrix makes me more accepting to different personalities or if it's something in my personality itself."

"I don't know that I could do what you do, I honestly don't." You say, looking out toward the lone star that is shining in the distance.

"In truth I sometimes don't know either." Prime looks at you, then to where you're eyes are fixed.

You point to Polaris, a dreamy look in your eyes and say, "Have you ever looked in to the sky, and wished that you could somehow fly? Out to the stars in the space above, and knew they showed the brightest love."

"When I was young, before the war and before I was given the matrix, I was an archivist. I enjoyed my job, but I had dreams just like you. Don't ever lose them." Prime says still staring at said star.

"I know it's completely corny, but flying has always fascinated me." You look over at Prime with a wide grin on your face. "Can you keep a secret?"

Prime smiles back at you and nods. "You wouldn't believe what people have confided in me. Even before I was Prime and I was just Optronix, mechs used to confide in me. Guess they thought there was no harm in telling a meager data archivist."

"I have always wanted to be like Superman in those old Detective Comics. Kind of a guilty pleasure of mine, but when Swoop took me flying earlier, I don't think I've ever been so thrilled in my life." You say, excitement so thick you could almost choke on it. "Even when I found out I got to start college early and for the first time, got to choose what to study, didn't compare to the feeling of the air beneath me."

"I've told you what I was, what are you exactly?" Prime asks, walking further away from the mouth of the Ark. By this time you feel like you're with an older brother, so you don't care.

"My folks wanted me to be like Doogie Howser and go into medicine. I gotta tell ya, I was no Doogie and medicine, although an interesting career, didn't seem to call to me, ya know." You look at Optimus to see if there is understanding. "I enjoyed learning about the different cultures when I was in elementary school. The different ways people live throughout the world, so I realized Sociology was for me."

"My parents had a fit when I decided to do something for myself and not them, made my sister and brother happy too, I was finally the family disappointment. So I took my scholarship and went to the State University and graduated. I have actually been working as the apprentice curator for the Museum of Sociological Studies. When I get my Doctorate, I get to become an assistant curator instead of an apprentice."

You smile up at Optimus, feeling proud of what you have accomplished in your short life. Optimus seems to be impressed and you can almost see a smile behind the face plate.

"Just one question?" Optimus asks. "Who is Doogie Howser?"

This causes you to throw your head back and cackle. You realize you have run off at the mouth, expecting everyone to understand what you are talking about.

"Just a show that was on for a few years. About a boy genius who became the youngest ever physician in the world. Plays on cable reruns I believe."

Optimus stops walking and places you on the rock face, then turns around and leans on the mountain. "I think you chose wisely."

"Thanks, I think you did too, even though I don't really know you all that well."

Optimus turns and stares at you for a moment. "I didn't choose this, it chose me."

"Okay, I don't follow." You look at Optimus questioningly. "You lead all these mechs into battle, with no regard to yourself. You lead them and they are all willing to follow. How can that not be something you want?"

"I don't want to have to lead. Believe it or not, I'm what humans would call shy."

This causes you to scoff. "Could have fooled me. Carly once said you were unafraid to run into battle, how could a shy person do that?"

"You do what you have to do in order to keep others safe, like you humans for example." Optimus says calmly. "No matter what you've heard about us on the news, you are no match for the Decepticons."

"Well you are, why haven't you killed them yet?"

"I don't want to kill anyone or anything."

The back of your head is warning you that you are starting to become rather standoffish, but you block it. Suddenly you have the desire to know why this being, who doesn't want the humans to die, doesn't get rid of those who would kill you, without a second thought.

"I thought the Decepticons were the bad guys, how can you say you don't want to kill those that would be willing to kill you?"

"The Decepticons are not the bad guys, they just have a difference of opinion. You can't call someone else's opinion bad."

By now you are a little bit confused and tired to the point that you aren't quite thinking straight. Normally you would be perfectly happy to have a nice and calm debate about something, but this is turning into an argument.

"I would hate someone for being as awful to me as the Decepticons have been to you."

"I don't hate the Decepticons. I don't particularly care for their beliefs and values, but I don't hate any one being." Optimus says to you, still calm.

"But how can you not hate the ones that leveled Bluestreak's home? That poor mech is battling some pretty big demons, and to have to see members of the same faction." You break off, finally realizing it isn't really your place to be condescending toward one who was obviously trying to help your new friend. "Sorry." You apologize.

Prime nods at you in understanding. "I know that you have no idea, what it's like to be in war for millions of your Earth years, you homo sapiens haven't even been alive that long, I have to tell you though, I wasn't always this accepting."

You look at Optimus and see for the first time the faults. Optimus must put on a brave face, for everyone. Carly had mentioned to you once, how incredible Optimus had been and the little bit she had said made Optimus rival the Gods of mythology; too perfect to be real.

"We may not be fighting like you do, one against the other, but there are little wars going on all the time on this planet. I've just been lucky enough not to have to be in one." You say, completely humbled from the thoughts going through your head.

For the life of you, you can't fathom someone being so accepting that they don't hate. For if one cannot hate, can one even love? Just being in the presence of the Autobot leader, you can feel the caring resonating from deep within.

You could almost feel that with all of them, but more so with Prime. After all, you'd have to be pretty accepting in order to deal with all the personalities in the ranks.

"I really do wish I could understand what you must go through every day, but I can't. I guess I'd need to be in your situation to understand." You mumble.

Prime extends a hand again and you climb on. "The fact that you have admitted to wanting to understand has put you on the same path to acceptance that I had to travel." Prime starts to walk back toward the front of the Ark. "You've just got to remember to keep your mind open enough to learn. Learning is the ultimate power, and both Autobots and Decepticons know that."

"Not many people do." You yawn and put your hand to your mouth. "Excuse me."

"Don't worry, Carly told me you packed up and ran here less than 24 hours ago." Prime chuckles.

"I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while." You say, then spot something moving toward you. As it's getting darker, you squint your eyes to see if you know the mech traveling toward you.

"Prime?" You hear a southern drawl call out to the two of you.

"Yes Ironhide, what is it?" Prime answers, as you recognize the mech who was standing in front of the Ark when Wheeljack brought you back.

"Ratchet's gone and riled up a bunch of 'bots about some party and Prowl's too busy trying to keep Sunny and Sides from playing some video of Perceptor's in the common room, to manage the chaos. Seems like the old Doc's gone and started happy hour a little early to manage. Prowl sent me out here to fetch you." Ironhide says, coming close enough for you to make out.

"What video?" You ask with a mixture of anxiety and humiliation, hoping that you aren't about to be the star in the next bout of porn that cycles through the Ark.

"Darned if I know, Perceptor always has that blasted camera going. Probably something with the mech talking to some inanimate object again, like last time." Ironhide says, looking from Prime to you and back to Prime.

Optimus nods and sets you on the ground, transforms and speeds off before even saying good bye.

"I don't get a good bye?" You ask, not quite hurt, but slightly annoyed.

"Don't take it personally kid, those two pit-spawned idiots could start a riot and with Ratchet out of commission, we'd have to get Aid here to keep the med bay in check, if something gets out of hand." Ironhide says, as the two of you start walking toward the Ark.

You decide to change your tape before continuing. There are so many questions you want to ask and as you and Ironhide are alone, it's as good a time as any to ask a question that's been eating at your brain.

"Can I ask you a question Ironhide?" You ask, hoping this mech is as agreeable as Prime is.

"Sure kid, ask away." Ironhide says, slowing pace to match yours.

"What do you remember most about being in this war?"

"The only thing to remember in any war kid, death."


	17. Death

Death

"Why in god's name would you even want to remember something like that?" You ask incredulously.

"It's not nice to contradict your elders." Ironhide growls at you.

"There are a lot better things to remember, even in war, than death." You spit back.

"You got a real phaser for a mouth there kid, might want to watch where you aim it."

Realizing that you sound like a spoiled brat, you look up at Ironhide and smile, basically acknowledging your insensitivity. "Sorry Ironhide. Guess my only excuse is I'm tired." You turn back ahead and then trip on your own two feet, falling flat on your face.

Then next thing you hear is Ironhide laughing so loudly it shakes the pebbles by your hand. Ironhide brings down a hand and helps you to your feet and you wipe the dust off your clothes.

"Thanks." You say, laughing in harmony right along with Ironhide. "I like that, phaser, but what do you mean?"

"I mean that your mouth could probably do a lot of damage if you don't think before you speak."

"You sound like my grandfather." You mumble, checking to make sure your tape recorder is still functioning.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

For a few moments there is complete silence except for the heavy footsteps of Ironhide's feet hitting the Earth. The nagging sensation in the back of your mind finally prompts you to speak again.

"I guess you've seen a lot of death." You say in almost a whisper, like talking about it is taboo.

"More than I want to remember. Can't get away from it in a war though" Ironhide says evenly.

"People here have a sort of fixation on death. There are those who fear it because it brings the unknown and there are those that accept it because it does the same thing. Then there are those who have their own opinions."

Ironhide stops moving for a moment and looks up at the sky that has become littered with stars. You stare up into space too and take it all in.

"When we die our being goes back into Primus, since we are just a fraction of who Primus is. I have never actually known a mech who died of old age." Ironhide says, not moving from gazing at the night sky.

"Really?" You ask full of curiosity.

"From what I know, as long as Primus is alive, so we will all continue to be alive. Primus can live without us, but we cannot live without Primus."

You have the movie 'Dragon Heart' running through your head right now. "So, as long as Primus functions, you cannot die, but you can be killed and you're essence would just merge back with Primus?" You ask, hoping you got all that on tape.

"Correct."

"So you're like a god?"

Ironhide looks at you harshly for a moment. "Now don't go getting your head in the clouds with that god nonsense, we've already had beings think of us as such. We are not gods because we can die. Primus is not a god, because Primus is not invincible. We are just like you, in that we are not immortal."

"But if you haven't met a Cybertronian that has died of old age, how can you not be immortal. If none of you have died of old age, how do you know you can die at all? You said that as long as Primus lives, so will you?"

The back of your head starts giving you warnings, that maybe this isn't the best conversation to be having. Of course you don't actually listen to your conscious, when you are in full discovery mode.

Ironhide kneels down in front of you, like your father used to do when he wanted to tell you something of importance.

"The main reason I have never met a mech who died of old age, is because this pit of a war started. Just because there is no record of someone dying of old age, doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Does Earth have actual documentation of everything that has occurred?"

For a moment you are silent, trying to find the best way to answer Ironhide's question. Of course there isn't record of everything, most of what has happened is just speculation. There was no way the early beings on this planet would have been able to record everything.

"I guess not." You say in defeat.

"Don't take it so hard kid, it was a trick question. There is no record of everything from everywhere. Too much space and time, for there to be an actual record." Ironhide chuckles.

Suddenly you feel a wave of alertness wash over yourself. Like this conversation, has the power to make your exhaustion just up and vanish, like smoke in the wind.

Eyes wide, you look at Ironhide, who is standing straight up again. "Maybe the record isn't written where we can see it, maybe it's written in our cells." This idea has actually got you excited.

"Kid, you've just gone into uncharted territory with me. I think you should talk to Perceptor or Ratchet about that stuff and leave the death and weapons talk to me." Ironhide rumbles.

For a moment you are in lala land, but the word weapons brings you back to the present. "What kind of weapons?" You ask warily.

"It doesn't matter what kind of weapons, if you don't have the guts to back it up."

You run ahead and stop in front of Ironhide. "So as long as I have guts, I can make a weapon out of a paper clip?" You ask with skepticism.

"Affirmative. I saw you getting chummy with Wheeljack, and all those weapons the mech makes won't do a bit of good if you don't have the courage to back it up, no matter how many 'Cons it may be able to take down."

"So what's your greatest weapon?" You ask, eager to hear the answer.

"The fact that I am not afraid of death, is my greatest weapon." Ironhide bends down and scoops you up in a large hand. "The fact that I am willing to die and take down as many of the enemy, as I can, at the same time, is the greatest weapon imaginable."

"So, it's not a weapon at all, it's you." You say in awe.

"You are perceptive. A being is the greatest weapon and if that being isn't afraid to die for what they believe in, then they are a weapon that can't be beaten."

"You seem like a force to be reckoned with Ironhide." You say as the two of you enter the last stretch of ground before the opening of the Ark. You are silent for a moment, as you think of how to word your next question. "Now, since all of you are a part of Primus, and in a sense, part of each other, do you feel it when others die?"

Ironhide stares blankly at you, making you shift uncomfortably and making you wonder if that was a strange question, to be asking.

"I personally don't feel it when my comrades die, at least not physically. I don't feel anything when the Decepticons die, physically or emotionally. I'm sure if you were to speak to Primus and ask the same question, the answer would be different."

"Someone told me that if you were bonded to another you would feel it." At the mention of the word bonded, Ironhide stalls in movement, but manages to cover it up pretty well. You notice, but decide not to press on about what Ironhide knows about the process.

"You would probably have to speak to Sunstreaker and Sides, about feeling what the other feels. I don't know a lot about twined sparks, but I'd assume that they were bonded without a choice. They may know more about that, because they live with it daily." Ironhide states in a soft voice.

You can tell just by the body language and the vocal inflections that Ironhide knows more about bonding than the information just presented to you. Your mind is screaming at you to press the issue, but your heart isn't in it, so you leave the issue alone.

There is one question that you want to ask before getting back into the ark. "Do you welcome death because someone is waiting for you?"

Ironhide's head bows while you are being lowered to the ground next to Carly's car. The lack of answer, answers the question, better than a vocal reply ever can.

You sadly watch Ironhide walk back into the Ark and disappear around a corner. Although you are now completely awake, that conversation has left you drained. You actually get ready to jump into the back of Carly's car and take a nap, but don't get the chance. You see Bluestreak race out of the opening, followed closely by Sideswipe.

For a moment, you are too bewildered to move, so you just stare as the two of them disappear into the distance.

"You stand too close to the doorway, you're gonna get run over." You hear Sunstreaker say.

"What was that about?" You ask, not even acknowledging the mech is standing in the doorway.

"Good ol' Blue, was talking to those slag-headed mini-bots about the shady dealings Sides used to be in, and royally pissed him off." Sunny states as if Blue running off at the mouth was an everyday occurrence.

"But Sideswipe won't hurt Bluestreak?" You ask, concerned.

"Na, that's just a scare tactic. Later tonight they'll be best friends again, like it never happened."

"How do you know?" You ask, hoping to create a segue into either bonding or twins.

"Cause, unfortunately, I know everything that pit-spawned twin of mine thinks." Bingo!

You open your mouth to ask another question, but hear a noise behind you. You turn around and see Sideswipe transform and saunter over to the two of you.

Sideswipe grins at you mischievously. "Now Sunny here, is more likely gonna corrupt you than I ever could."

"Blow it out your exhaust, you sorry excuse for a mech." Sunstreaker spits out.

"Nice language there Sunny, you kiss anyone with that orifice?"

You watch in a mixture of amusement and horror as Sunny takes a step toward you and Sideswipe. Within seconds Sideswipe has you held between the two of them.

"Nice try, but I know you don't have the heart to hurt anyone today just to get to me." Sideswipe snickers.

"Don't tempt me?" Sunstreaker snarls, causing you to hold your breath. Sunstreaker notices and scoffs. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you just to get at Sides. I'll just have to kick some aft later." Sunstreaker turns around and walks into the Ark.

"Don't worry about Sunny." The voice in your ear startles you out of your discomfort. "I promise the bark is worse than the bite."

"Is that because you know everything that happens to Sunstreaker, just like Sunstreaker does you?" You ask, hoping the worry in your voice dissipates soon.

Sideswipe laughs in your ear and starts to walk into the Ark, still holding you. "That's what being twins is all about, knowing what the other is doing and feeling, even before they do themselves."


	18. Twins

Twins

While Sideswipe carries you into the Ark like a doll, you wonder how to proceed with the next line of questioning. You know the mech must be more interested in the party, that is going to happen later, but you still want to ask about the spark bond twins share.

"How are twins created?" You finally ask, like a child asks where babies come from.

Sideswipe laughs at your eagerness and replies, "Don't quite know. That's something you should probably ask Ratchet about."

"'Cept the old Doc is plastered off the aft, like a mech at Maccadams Old Oil House." Sunstreaker says, leaning against a door jam.

"What's that, like a pub?" You ask, still in Sideswipe's arms.

"That's the closest earth approximation." Sunstreaker says, then glares at Sideswipe for a second. "That human is perfectly capable of walking, you plan on carrying it around the rest of the night, like a security component?"

"Go choke on an oil can Sunny." Sideswipe growls, setting you down all the same. "if you hadn't wandered off so fast we could have walked with you."

Sunstreaker glares daggers at Sideswipe for a full minute before answering. You feel like you can cut the tension with a knife.

"You want an answer to your question, come with me. This asinine mistake of a mech, couldn't answer you anyway."

"Very good!" Sideswipe claps. You are a little worried about this confrontation. "You've been watching the dictionary channel again, haven't you?" A sly grin spreads across Sideswipe's face.

"Maybe I'll just…" You say, turning to leave. Sideswipe picks you up again, causing your eyes to pop open.

"Relax, we ain't gonna hurt you. We love each other, don't we Sunshine?" Sideswipe wraps an arm around Sunstreaker's shoulder, leading the way down the hallway.

"Call me that again and I'll have Jetfire fly you into the sun and leave you there." Sunstreaker snarls, wrenching Sideswipe's arm away.

"Don't pay attention to our resident artist. They tend to be a little full of themselves and rather dark." Sideswipe puts you onto a shoulder, causing you to wrap your arms around the nearest protrusion; in this case Sideswipe's own head.

Though this is rather startling, you feel somewhat safe here with the two of them. Plus you aren't really able to go anywhere, so you just hold on for the ride.

The two of them walk over to a door and you watch as Sunstreaker enters in a code. You notice the keypad is made up of fifteen keys, each with a different symbol on them. In seconds the door opens and the three of you enter.

"Where are we?" You ask, looking at the cylindrical beam of light that flows from the ceiling to the floor.

Sideswipe picks you up and places you onto the ground. "This is Teletran-1."

You remember Perceptor talking to Teletran-1 earlier. "Why are we here?"

"Think of Teletran-1 as an interactive version of your internet. Ask a question and Teletran-1 will answer." Sideswipe says, going back to stand with Sunstreaker.

You glance back at the two of them, waiting off to the side. You smile and turn to face the beam of energy. You can feel the warmth on your face as you look upward toward the ceiling, where you see panels that appear to be floating in midair and circling the light beam that is in the center of the room.

For a moment you feel stupid, thinking of asking a machine your questions, but you think back to all the conversations you've had that day. Each and every one of the beings you met today would be considered machines, intelligent, but machines. This wasn't any different.

You think for a moment of the computer off of 'Star Trek' or K.I.T.T. off of Knight Rider. Then you smile and realize, this is for real, it isn't a dream and you have knowledge that other's only dream about at your fingertips.

"Hello Teletran-1, can I ask you a question?" You ask.

"Affirmative." Comes an almost robotic reply.

"How are Cybertronian Twins created?"

Within seconds there is an actual picture, like a hologram, surrounding you and the two Autobots. You turn to watch what is happening, while the voice describes the process.

"The fragmented piece of Primus is given to a creator after much deliberation from the High Council. In the case of a normal spark, it is brought up from the depths of Cybertron via an unknown energy source to the High Council Chamber and put into a container where it is transferred to the body of the new mech.

"In the case of a twined spark, the spark is broken in half by the energy that is bringing the fragment of Primus to the Chamber. It is speculated that the energy is part of Primus as well, and when too much energy is used, the fragment is unable to withstand the pressure.

"When the new spark is released, it breaks into two, molding itself into two different sparks instead of one, using the excess energy to make the spark feel whole, like it was before the journey upward.

"This, unfortunately is not the case, as neither spark is complete, and in order for either twin to be alive, must form a bond with the other immediately. Before the sparks are separated and put into their own container, they seek each other out, like a magnet. They form a bond with one another, making them whole again.

"Twins are considered extremely rare on Cybertron. In fact, some even consider twins to be a myth. There is no actual visual record of a set of twins being born in the Chamber, what you have just seen is a virtual hologram of what is said to occur during the creation of a twined spark"

You look at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe for a moment. They look like two different beings. "So you two are one single entity?"

"This is all news to us." Sideswipe scoffs at you. "Never really thought about myself as half a mech."

"Can Teletran-1 answer that question?" You ask, raising your eyebrows.

"Ask away."

You turn back to the light and ask, "So twins are one person, not two?"

"To answer your question I am going to access information about how Earth twins are created to give you a basis for comparison." Teletran-1 answers. The hologram around you changes and you are watching the human egg, along with the twins.

"When the egg becomes two, it multiplies as if it were two separate entities, thus the human twins have the same DNA, but are two different people. With Cybertronian twins, when the spark fractures a similar process occurs, only instead of it developing like a flesh creature, it consumes the raw energy that was left behind during the fracture to become whole.

"Each spark imprints, or shares the equivalent of Cybertronian DNA of the other in order to become whole. So while they may have started out as one being, they were given too much energy, so two had to be created in order to house it all.

"Just like a human, they need the same blueprint in order to be alive, so while one half of the fragment may have components A and C, the other may have B and D and they both need A, B, C, and D in order to live. So when they merge, or bond, they are copying the components they need in order to survive. Thus creating two whole beings, who have a natural bond with one another.

"Then the natural occurs, where each one has different life experiences, causing different personalities to develop. Although Cybertronian twins may not have been two entities to begin with, they become two entities mere moments after the split occurs."

You look over at the twins again. "This is really cool." You say in complete awe. "Does Teletran-1 know everything?"

"More than we do." Sunstreaker says, rather interested in watching the human egg multiply.

"So how does one of those marriage rituals you do work, the bond or whatever?" You ask Sideswipe.

"Didn't even know how we were bonded, what makes you think I'd know how the other works?"

"You mean to tell me you have this mountain of information at your fingertips and you don't take advantage of it and learn all you can?" This actually doesn't come as a surprise to you as humans are the same way, a wealth of information at their fingertips and they don't care.

"It's not like any of that will help me."

"Knowledge is power you know." You scoff and turn back toward Teletran-1 to ask more questions.

"Now you sound like Shockwave." Sunstreaker says after the hologram disappears.

"Who?" You ask, not even turning around.

"Don't ask, not important. Why do you want all of this information anyway?" Sideswipe asks in a cheeky voice. "Doesn't have anything to do with Perceptor does it?"

You feel all the blood drain from your system and for a moment all the heat in the room is gone. 'They know!' You head screams out. You keep quiet and wait a minute for the circulation to start back up again before addressing both mechs.

"Actually," you say turning around. "My questions are purely for research. Perceptor had some questions and I answered." You look up at Sideswipe. "I have no emotional attachment to Perceptor whatsoever." You say with no emotion in your voice.

Sideswipe stares at you for a moment, you hold your ground. Then the two look at each other and you assume are talking to each other.

"Okay, so my turn to ask a question now?" Sideswipe says, turning away from Sunstreaker to look back at you.

"Ask away." You say defensively. "I've got nothing to hide."

"Why would you do that with Perceptor if you had no interest in forming a bond? Isn't that act something you do with someone you care about?" Sideswipe asks. You size Sides up for a moment and come to the conclusion that the question is genuine.

"Just think of me as the teacher and Perceptor the student. I taught Perceptor something that the mech was curious about." You laugh. "In all actuality, I can't believe I don't have some sort of feeling for what we did. I actually have no regrets about the lesson."

Sideswipe looks at Sunstreaker again. This time Sunny motions no vigorously. "Don't do it Sides, just leave it be."

Sideswipe waves Sunstreaker off and looks at you. "So are you going to 'teach' the rest of us?"

You raise your eyebrows again, laughter reverberating from inside of your brain. You try to keep a straight face and say, "You two?" Sideswipe nods. "Not even close."

"What did I tell ya, you defunct glitch?" Sunstreaker says, smacking Sideswipe upside the head.

"Cut it out!" Sideswipe growls. "There was no harm in asking."

"You two act no older than ten year olds." You chuckle at the two of them glaring at each other. "And you're right, there is no harm in asking, so I'm going to ask you to keep whatever you saw to yourselves. You grow up a little and I may be able to find someone who would actually love to teach the two of you, and actually enjoy it at the same time."

Both mechs regard you for a moment before large grins plaster their faces. This causes you to laugh even more. "I don't know when, but it's a promise, if you can keep from plastering my bare ass around your base, then I will be more than happy to hook the two of you up."

You turn around to ask more questions, but don't get the chance to. The door to Teletran-1's room opens, admitting Jazz, who has a Cheshire cat sized grin.

"I'm here 'cause numerous mechs'r worried the two 'o you are either corrupting or causing mischief." Jazz says to the twins.

"Why is it that mechs think I have the ability to corrupt anything?" Sideswipe asks Sunny, who laughs at the question.

"Probably because you have the ability to corrupt anything." Sunstreaker snickers.

"Doesn't matter," Jazz interjects, haulting any further altercation between the two. "Prime wants to see the two of you and Perceptor in the meeting room." Jazz turns to you. "'Jack's outside ta take ya back ta Carly's car. She said ta say she'd be there in fifteen minutes if she can get Daniel ta break free from Blaster."

You look at your watch and realize it is getting late and you've got less than two and a half hours before you've got to be at the airport.

You follow the three mechs out, and just like Jazz said, Wheeljack is leaning against the wall waiting for you to come out. It doesn't take long for you to say good-bye and soon you and Wheeljack are walking toward the front of the Ark.

"Did ya learn what you came here to learn?" Wheeljack asks, friendly as ever.

"I don't know." You say, trying to think back to all you've witnessed today. Suddenly you feel bad and you can't put a finger on it.

Wheeljack looks at you for a moment. You don't look any different than you have all day, but confusion is radiating from you. You can feel it, so it doesn't surprise you others can see it too.

"You okay?"

"It's almost like I don't want this to end. Have you ever been working on something and it had such an impact on you, you don't want it to end?"

You turn to look at Wheeljack who is nodding. "Very recently."

"For the first time in my life, I think I'm actually going to miss something." You say, realizing your experience is really over.


	19. Companionship

Companionship

You close your eyes and try to remember a time when you were depressed, because something was coming to an end. Change was always what kept you going, because boredom snuck in rather quickly and if change didn't occur, you got restless.

Then a flash of memory hits you. You open your eyes and look at your momentary companion. "When I was nine, my parents were away for the summer, so they sent my brother, sister and I off to different summer camps. I was at this one by myself, since Abby and Jason are older than I am.

"While I was there I was able to pretend I wasn't this smart kid, who took all the advanced courses and did the art and music lessons. I was able to be a kid. I actually remember crying when the summer was over and I had to go back home and take up where I left off.

"I wasn't able to be a kid anymore." You say softly.

"Doesn't sound like you had much of a childhood." Wheeljack says, lights flashing a deep orange color.

"I didn't and this," You indicate everything, "This is making me feel like I did when I was forced to come home from summer camp, only this time, I'm not being forced by anyone but myself."

The two of you stop by the car and you hop in the back, hoping the feeling goes away soon. After all, you've got stuff to do.

"I heard about what you said to Jetfire." Wheeljack says, walking toward the mountain and sitting on the ledge. "Do you think maybe you're doing the same thing to yourself?"

You look over at Wheeljack, your eyes blurred from the exhaustion taking over you again. Your mind takes a minute to comprehend what you've been told.

"I guess I could be, too tired to think about it too much right now." You say, yawning.

"Then why don't you stay?"

This causes you to laugh at the notion. "I can't stay, I've just met all of you today. I'm not like Carly, who's known you for years. What would I be able to do, all I'm good at is learning."

Wheeljack walks over to the car and kneels down in front of your face. "Trust me when I say this, I've lived for countless of your years and I've learned a few things about a lot of beings. If you aren't happy with what you're doing, then don't punish yourself, find something you like doing."

"I like learning about other cultures. I always will."

"Then if you stay, you've opened yourself up to learning about not just Earthen cultures, but galactic wide cultures."

You are listening with half an ear, but this causes you to pause in your thinking. 'Star Trek IV' runs through your mind. Wheeljack is right on one thing, staying would open up a door, for you to see the galaxy, not just the world, just like you had told Hound earlier in the day.

For a fraction of a second, you are in complete bliss, thinking that you actually could drop everything and stay. Then reality slams into you like oncoming traffic. You can't give up what you've worked for, just for the chance to be a kid again. You've got responsibilities.

You don't even have a chance to open your mouth before Wheeljack starts a rebuttal. "Remember your question about having a chip inside of a human, to see if we could communicate with humans like we do ourselves?"

You turn over and look at Wheeljack, who is obviously excited; vocal indicators flashing an eye piercing blue.

"You could help me with that. I've been working on some calculations and I think I could make it work, but I'd need a willing test subject. My track record tells me that none of the Witwicky's would be willing, except maybe Daniel."

"You want me to stay and be a guinea pig?" You ask through another yawn.

"Don't think of my offer like that, think of my offer as being an assistant," Wheeljack says excitedly, then a little slower, "A companion."

"Why do you want someone you've just met to stay and work with you?" You ask. Being tired has made your head a little foggy.

Wheeljack kneels next to the car again. "I heard about your teamwork with Sideswipe and Bluestreak. It takes a lot of patience to work with either on their own, let alone both of them together."

"So because I managed to work with a couple of your comrades, you think the two of us would work well together?" You raise your eyes.

"Well," Wheeljack begins, you notice the vocal indicators are actually flashing indigo at this point. "I honestly think you could work well with anyone, even Red, if the mech would calm down enough to listen." The answer seems rushed to you, but you're too tired to press it.

"I'll take that as a compliment, but I still have responsibilities." You lean back on the seat and look up at the stars. "The stars; they watch us from the sky, lighting the night as the years pass by. Gazing from afar and letting us be, for the stars really and truly are free."

You look back at Wheeljack, who is watching you curiously. "Sorry," You say, "I get kind of corny when I need sleep." You look back up at the sky. "Can you see the stars Cybertron orbits from here?" You ask.

"No, and you can't even see the direction we're located from this side of the planet. You'd almost need to be on the Prime Meridian as it cuts through the South Pole to see the general direction we face." Then Wheeljack stands and says, "Come with me for a moment."

Without thinking you hop up and say, "Okay." You jump out of the car, completely amazed your legs still want to move. You don't have to stand for long though. Wheeljack picks you up and starts to fly, at an angle of about 50 degrees, away from the Ark.

This causes you to wake up again. You watch as the ground not only gets further away, but also flies by at an alarming rate.

"Where are we going?" You ask, realizing you are getting rather close to the sky.

"I'm going to take you to the lower Mesosphere and show you the direction to Cybertron." Wheeljack says, though you are barely able to make out the words.

The two of you are flying faster than the human body was meant to, and you feel your skin tightening on your face. Bile slowly starts to leak out of the sides of your mouth and you have to turn to face Wheeljack in order to breathe.

After a few minutes, even facing the Autobot doesn't help in breathing. You realize the air is getting thin and it's getting hotter.

"We're in the middle part of the Stratosphere now." You can almost hear Wheeljack tell you. You remember this is where planes fly. The pressure is starting to build up in your ears and soon you are unable to hear.

You wrap your arms tighter around the arm Wheeljack is carrying you in, as you feel the resistance hit you like waves crashing into the side of a boat. In your mind, you are thinking, 'if we go too much higher, I won't be able to breathe', but within a few seconds you have stopped.

You open your eyes, which you didn't realize were closed, and slowly look around. Blackness is all you can see above and to either side, blackness speckled with stars. Below you is Earth, and you can actually make out the Pacific ocean.

You look up at Wheeljack. "How are we stationary?"

"Gravitational Inhibitor, makes gravity come at you from all angles, so you don't fall or in this case fly."

You try to take a deep breath, but end up burning your lungs, causing you to cough. You wheeze slightly, then turn toward where the South Pole would be facing. "Can we see the binary star from here?"

Wheeljack extends an arm and points out toward the nothingness. "Too many light years to count, in that direction is our planet. Why Primus decided to stay within that set of stars is beyond me, but that's where my home is."

You look back up at Wheeljack and ask, "Do you miss it?"

"I think everyone misses their home, whether the want to admit it or not." Wheeljack turns you around, this time so you're facing the outer chassis and then speeds back to the Ark.

When you begin to enter the Troposphere, you start to breathe easy again. You can feel the pressure in your ears go away and your lungs no longer burn.

For the remainder of the trip back to Earth, you are in a state of utter chaos. One part of you screaming on how you could have died, another part of you wondering why anyone would do what they just did for you. Then another part of you, arguing with yourself that you should take up Wheeljack's offer and stay so you'd get to do things like that all the time.

By the time you land, you want to cover your ears and shout at the voices of your conscious to shut up because you can't think. Then you hear Wheeljack talk to you.

"If you stay, we can change your body, to that of the living metal that makes up our own and we can go into space. You can see Saturn."

You turn to look at Wheeljack with a confused look on your face.

"I was talking with Hound earlier, said you'd enjoy seeing Saturn up close and personal."

"Even if I were to stay, there's no way I could become one of what you are. I wouldn't have a spark from Primus." You say, feeling the small boils that have appeared on your arms due to the extreme heat.

"We could always take you to Vector Sigma and ask if you could be transferred into a spark from Primus, you'd have to die in this form, but since Primus can create life, Primus could also take it away." Wheeljack says, looking at your arm closely. "Probably should refrain from taking humans into that part of the atmosphere, you're burnt."

"It'll go away." You say. Then you decide to get brave. "Is there a reason you specifically are asking me this, or have you drawn the short straw?"

Wheeljack's lights flash as if thinking again. "Short straw?"

"Sorry, were you voted to come and ask me this, or are you asking on your own?"

Wheeljack's eyes brighten a few shades as comprehension sinks in. "I'm gonna have to use that, but in an answer to your question, it's both. I've heard from various mechs who've spent any amount of time with you and they all agree, we could use another human on the base, what with Chip being at the University and Spike married to Carly.

"Plus, you're the first person in a great while who has been, almost, perfectly at ease when testing my new creations. I'm not going to stop testing them, but it would be nice to have someone around who was willing to stand in the same room with them."

You laugh, as you absentmindedly hop into the back seat of the car. For a moment you think it's serendipity that you ended up there and Wheeljack seems to think so too.

"I want to give you this." Wheeljack pulls a moderately sized object from nowhere. Your eyes get wide as you realize it's the first invention Wheeljack had ever created. "My offer still stands."

Your hands wrap around the object and you hold it up. It's too big to fit in your bag, so you wonder how you're going to get it home. You don't have long to think about that as Carly walks up to the car with Spike and a sleeping Daniel.

"Wheeljack buddy," Spike says, clapping the mech on the leg. "You might want to get inside, they've started the party early." Spike puts Daniel into his car seat.

Wheeljack glances once more at you and you can see the vocal indicators flashing between indigo and a dark pink color. You still don't know what indigo means, but you deduce pink is synonymous with unhappy. Was Wheeljack really that unhappy that you were leaving?

"What in the hell happened to your arms?" Carly asks in alarm.

Spike grabs one and shines a light on it. "How'd you burn your arms, and your face?" Spike takes the light and flashes it in your face.

"Wheeljack took me as high as I could go so I could see the general direction of where Cybertron is. Didn't realize until we got back that my skin isn't designed to go into the Mesosphere." You say, as you lie your head back on the seat.

Spike raises his eyes and looks at Carly for a moment. They seem to communicate without words.

"Wheeljack asked me to stay and be an assistant, or even use the Traalian water and change myself into a Cybertronian." You say, watching the two with interest at their reactions.

"That's a hell of an offer. Does Prime know you were invited?" Spike says getting into the car.

"I don't know? Guess I have some choices to make." You say, rolling your head to the side, trying to keep from falling asleep.


	20. Choices

Choices

"You would probably enjoy living at the Ark, even if only for a little while. I can't remember what I did before I met the Autobots." Spike is telling you, while you half listen to the man's rambling.

The other half of yourself is listening to a dozen different types of your conscious, telling you what to do. You try to remember a time you've ever had this many different things going off in your head, but can't seem to recall one.

"I gotta tell ya, you barely scratched the surface on all the knowledge the Autobots can give you. It'd take years to get all the information they have available to them. Chip used to sit with Teletran-1 and just ask question after question." Spike continues on.

You are focused on what you think, is the logical and reasoning voice in your head. The one telling you that you have work to do. It's time to grow up and leave childish desires behind. You have a job and are good at it. You are in the middle of writing your thesis. That was all this was, and pretty soon you'll forget all about the fun you had, with this new group and worry about grown up things, like taxes.

Spike continues rambling in the back ground. "You'll have to get Mirage to teach you about the cloaking device. I tell you, that was one the neatest tricks I had seen in my first fourteen years. Now don't get me wrong, I've seen a lot of things, but that's the first time I was utterly impressed with something that wasn't my father's doing."

You then turn to listen to the child in you. The voice that's telling you how much fun you had, with all of them. How even though some of the Autobots were rather clueless when it came to humans, they all seemed to be capable of having intelligent conversation. The child in you, is telling you, not to let go of the chance to be a kid and learn everything you can from them, because it would literally be like you were seeing through the eyes of a child.

"You'll have to get Jetfire to fly you around the world in an hour, or get Mirage to sneak you onto the space bridge and take a trip to Cybertron." Spike, you notice, is still talking up a storm, could probably give Bluestreak a run for the money. "I've been there a number of times myself, can't wait to take Daniel."

The next voice that comes to the forefront of your mind is the one warning you to be careful. You don't know these beings and they aren't native to this world. How do you know they aren't just pretending to be friends? They could be waiting until all of humanity is comfortable and then unleash bloody hell on our asses.

You can hear both Spike and Carly talking in the background, but your mind is looking at the toy Wheeljack gave you. Why give it to you, it's not like you really have any use for it and it obviously meant something to the mech.

Your hand, slowly, reaches out and touches the metal. It doesn't feel like the metal of the Autobots. You remember someone, Ironhide maybe, telling you that there was some sort of living metal on Cybertron. Something that perhaps Primus created? Was this material created from the same compound?

Maybe this was a gesture to get you to become overly curious and go back to ask more questions? Maybe this was just a parting gift? You stop for a moment in your thinking, realizing that it has already made you overly curious and you can't let that cloud your judgment.

Another voice enters your mind. This one is telling you that you should throw caution to the wind. How many others are given the chance to learn about not just one extra-terrestrial culture, but even told they now have the opportunity to go explore the galaxy. To hell with human requirements! You don't need anything from this worthless planet. You can change your essence and leave all of humanity behind.

Humanity. 'There's a strange word,' you think to yourself. We are born innately curious. Why do so many adults lose that curiosity? If you were to ask a five year old kid, 'would you like to go into outer space', that kid would instantly say, Yes! That is, unless it became scared.

That's what happens when we become adults. We become scared because we start to pay attention to all that happens in the world. You file that hypothesis in the back of your brain for later.

"So do you think you'll go back at some point?" The question from Spike brings you out of your thoughts.

"Oh," you say, coming back from never land. "I don't know yet. It's an interesting proposition. Right now I think I'm too tired to make such a decision."

"Well Carly and I are more than happy to fix up the extra bedroom if you decide to move out here for a while, or decide to do your paper on the Autobots. That room is yours if you want it."

"I'll keep that in mind." You say, smiling at him.

"I suggest you go to sleep on the plane, you look like slag, as Ratchet would say." Carly says to you.

You laugh, remembering Ratchet saying that exact same thing earlier to you in the day. "I still don't know what that word means."

"It means shit." A voice next to you says, causing three sets of eyes to glance at Daniel.

"Did you teach him that?" Carly asks Spike, with mock annoyance.

"Don't look at me, this'll teach us not to leave him with the Dinobots." Spike says laughing.

You lie your head back onto the seat and look over at Daniel, who's brown eyes are watching you.

"I would like to go into space." He says pointing upward.

You smile and think to yourself, how much the boy reminds you of you when you were a kid. So full of curiosity and excitement. You watch as Daniel closes his eyes again and falls back asleep.

By this time you've made it to the airport and Carly parks the car by the main gate. "You'll e-mail me when you decide if you're going to come out again." She says.

"Most certainly." You say, hopping out of the car.

"Don't be surprised if there are half a dozen e-mails in your box when you get home. I gave out your e-mail address to quite a few mechs today and some of them are chatter boxes." Carly laughs and pops the trunk.

You go around to the back of the car and stop for a moment. Right now it's just you in your mind, telling you to do what makes you happy. Saying, the air is permeated with the voices of those who guide and give us choices. Leading us; as we are all blind and freeing the fathoms of the mind.

You take one more look at the sky and know the stars are there, it's just too bright to see in the city limits. You've made your decision.

* * *

I appreciate you making it this far. I have to say, due to a friend of mine chewing me out because of the way I left this, there is a sequel that I will be posting chapter by chapter. There is a little bit of foreshadowing in the chapter entitled "Death" as to what will become of you.

Thanks for reading my dare.


End file.
